


They Keep Calling Me

by Grindall



Series: S.P.A.C.E. is Crazy [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - S.P.A.C.E., Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Sad Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, but it’ll be ok, just read for the movie nights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-02-08 15:36:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12867663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grindall/pseuds/Grindall
Summary: Keith Kogane thought getting through freshman year of S.P.A.C.E. (School of Progressive Academic and Career Exploration) would be easy compared to the life he’s already lived.But when he meets Lance McClain at his Voltron Scholarship meeting, things take an unexpected turn.Now, it’s second year and Keith’s trying to battle through double fine arts majors, insomnia, nightmares, and his crush.Turns out, he’s not the only one with problems.OR: Lance’s over a year crush is finally requited, but they have to get through a lot of shit before they can properly go on a date.





	1. And So It Begins...

**One Year Ago, beginning of Keith's freshman year**

 

Keith pretended that he wasn't hiding behind Shiro as they walked into the room, the poster on the door reading, _S.P.A.C.E.: Voltron Club Scholarship Meeting._

 

"Greetings, Shiro!" The exclamation made Keith visibly jump, shifting even further behind his brother. Shiro let out a quiet laugh and nudged Keith ahead, causing him to slouch and give off his usual 'don't-come-near-me' persona.

 

"Body language," Shiro chided as he slapped his hand onto Keith's shoulder and grinned at the woman who had spoken. "Hello, Allura! This is my brother, Keith."

 

Keith tried his best at a smile, which basically was him barely tilting the corners of his mouth up—it came off as more of a sneer, "Hi."

 

Allura clapped her hands together enthusiastically, her silvery-white hair bouncing freely as it hung down her back, "It's _so_ nice to meet you! I'm Allura and this is Coran!"

 

Her voice. There was an accent. She was probably British, Keith guessed.

 

A redheaded man, Keith assumed he was Coran, popped his head out from under a table. "Ah!"

 

He was suddenly in front of him, making Keith jump. "Keith! Good to meet you!" He shook Keith's hand enthusiastically. Keith shifted his eyes between Allura and Coran, realizing they had the same accent.

 

"Er…" Still quite taken aback, it took him a second to register what happened. "Hi."

 

Coran leaned towards him, "Is that all you can say, young man? 'Hi?'"

 

Keith winced, "It's nice to meet you both."

 

Shiro chuckled, but thankfully took the spotlight off of him. "So, how many recruits are there this year?"

 

It was another five minutes before someone else came in because Shiro had insisted on getting there early ("It's polite," he had told Keith). 

 

Hunk Garret was the one who just came in. Two more people left, since Allura had replied to Shiro's question with an enthusiastic four and a sigh when she told him he was the only one still here from his year—which was second.

 

Hunk was obviously nervous and Keith eyed him warily as he talked to Coran while fidgeting _and_ rambling.

 

Next, someone named "Pidge." She said her real name was Katie, but she was trying something out. Keith watched her more eagerly, he wanted her to talk to him, but she turned to talk to Hunk.

 

Well, after she said hi and he grunted.

 

He needed to work on his people skills.

 

They seemed to hit it off immediately, only making Keith sink further into himself.

 

Lastly, a guy named Lance. _Not just some guy_ , Keith corrected his thoughts, _a fucking god._ Then he started flirting with Allura. He walked in and practically _swooned_ when he saw her.

 

 _Straight guys_ , Keith thought, _never touch the stuff myself_ , which was a quote, but he couldn't remember from where.

 

(Later, he looked it up and realized it was from a cartoon he'd watched a few years ago. And, y'know, a saying that people use.)

 

"Are you a magician? Because whenever I see you, everyone else disappears," he winked, giving her some finger guns.

 

Keith hated the clenching he felt in his gut. It was that ridiculous mixture of jealousy and annoyance.

 

Shiro laughed good-naturedly before Allura could react harshly, "You must be Lance! I'm Shiro, and this is my brother, Keith."

 

He forgot to wave, his mouth wouldn't work. Lance raised an eyebrow at him—only drawing attention to his beautiful blue eyes, that did _not_ help his current situation—and nodded slowly when he didn't say anything.

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lance said, eventually, shaking Shiro's hand firmly. He shot another glance at Keith when he still hadn't said anything, but this time, his eyes narrowed in anger as he sized him up.

 

Keith's fists clenched at his sides to prevent himself from facepalming. Not a good first impression.

 

Shyly, he watched Lance as he began to chat to Hunk and Pidge. Outcast of his own age group. He sighed. Great.

 

Shiro landed a hand on his brother's shoulder again, "You should try to talk to them—"

 

Right. Brotherly advice about social events. Terrible from a seven years older one who doesn't seem to understand how it feels when people just don't like you.

 

Keith's scoff was drowned out by Coran standing in the front of the room and clapping his hands together, "Paladins—that's what we like to call people participating in Voltron—come sit!" He gestured to a circle of chairs in front of him.

 

Keith took great pride in seeing that the other newbies looked as nervous as he did. Slouching in his seat with his arms crossed, his face turning into a frown.

 

"As you know," Coran started from his standing position, twirling his bright red mustache in between his fingers, "Voltron's scholarship is only given to you if you participate fully into our club that focuses mainly on teamwork, career exposure and exploration, and reaching your full potential."

 

Around the circle, everyone nodded. Coran continued after seeing the affirmation.

 

"And relaxing, of course! This college is very competitive, you know! It's nice to know someone's on your side," he explained cheerfully. "One Big Happy Family is the name I wanted to call it—"

 

He glanced over at Allura who shrugged.

 

"It…didn't quite fit what we were going for, I suppose! We started last year and only had four recipients…three of whom are gone. Sadly, Slav transferred, one didn't make the cut, and the other dropped out."

 

Seeming to not notice the worried looks on everyone's faces—save for Shiro and Allura—he carried on in excitement.

 

"But that was a dry run and we're fully prepared for this new year!" the orange-haired man announced, pumping his finger into the air to accent his point.

 

"Allura and I are both alumnus of S.P.A.C.E., so feel free to ask us any questions if you feel the need! We know that some people only get involved for the money, but know that Voltron is a commitment!

 

"Now, we have decided to hold our meetings at two every other Sunday! No classes, we hope, and late enough to not be hungover!" Coran explained. "Is that okay with everyone's schedule?"

 

Keith grunted without actually thinking about his schedule. He didn't have a life—he was free. Shiro nodded, giving a verbal 'a-okay,' as did Pidge and Hunk—after taking out their phones to, presumably, check. Lance, however, frowned a little and seemed to be doing some math in his head.

 

Wow. His face was really _cute_ when he was concentrating.

 

Think straight thoughts, think straight thoughts, Keith told himself.

 

"Yeah!" Lance finally chimed up. "I can make it."

 

"Good, good, now that that's out of the way, let's introduce ourselves!" Coran instructed happily.

 

***

 

"What? You afraid you can't handle me? Hate to break it to you, Mullet, but you can't."

 

Keith blinked, swiping a hand through the ends of his hair. ' _Mullet?_ ' he mouthed to himself. "It's not a—whatever! _You_ can't handle _me_!"

 

"Bet I could," Lance taunted.

 

There. Just so you know Keith didn't start this, for the record.

 

They were competing to see which team could get through a relay obstacle course the fastest. Keith had been assigned the same station as Lance. Which was the last one. Which meant everyone was counting on you. And you're not allowed to get distracted by the rivaling teammates.

 

So, naturally, to keep his obvious attraction on the _DL_ , he grimaced.

 

Maybe he overdid it. He didn't even like Lance himself! But he was definitely appealing to his eyes. Especially his long legs…and those blue eyes…his smooth skin….

 

 _Straight thoughts_.

 

Keith, Pidge, and Allura on one team. Lance, Hunk, and Shiro on the other. Who would win?

 

Pidge was hopping in and out of tires like a pro. Shiro, on the other hand, was too. Then Hunk was climbing up a rope with brute strength…but so was Allura! And how was she _so strong_? Muscles for days, Keith thought to himself.

 

They were sliding down the ropes, they were running towards the last station, Keith was _ready_. He high-fived Allura before jumping onto a red scooter thing that he'd only used back in elementary school.

 

But this? This wasn't elementary school. He rode the scooter like a skateboard, and Lance, only a second behind him, did the same. They were neck and neck, yelling insults at each other.

 

"Mulletbrain!"

 

"Ass!"

 

"Edgelord!"

 

Keith faintly heard Pidge say something about how Lance used that with no irony and _who says that_.

 

Keith knew he liked her.

 

"Dick!"

 

They both glared at each other at the last insults, taking their eyes off the nearing wall.

 

"Ow!"

 

Probably not a smart thing to do.

 

***

 

"I thought he was _hot_ , Shiro," Keith griped in annoyance, holding a bag of ice to his head in their apartment. "He's definitely not hot anymore."

 

"Keith, come on, that was just as much your fault as it was his," Shiro was trying to bite back the amused smile on his face as he leaned against the kitchen doorway.

 

"What did I do? He started it!"

 

"Well…when he said hi? You didn't actually reply."

 

"Because I was _enamored_! But believe me, I'm not anymore."

 

"Enamored?"

 

"He was hot!"

 

"I'm pretty sure your dislike—"

 

" _Hatred_."

 

"Dislike. Hate's a strong word."

 

Keith rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

 

"I'm pretty sure your dislike doesn't make your tastes change. He's still hot, you just think his personality's not. Hey, that rhymed!"

 

Keith shot his brother his 'I'm-done-with-you' look. "Sure, Shiro. Sure."

 

***

 

It had been awkward as they followed each other at first. But soon, Hunk had started a conversation and Lance had joined in, happily ridding of the stiff silence.

 

It turned out, they lived in the same dorm. _What a coincidence._

 

It turned out, they lived on the same floor. _Strange. One out of the six people he met today lived on the same floor._

 

It turned out, they lived in the same room.

 

"Oh!" Hunk exclaimed as they both went for the door. "We must be roommates! No offense, but I thought you were stalking me for a while there."

 

"I, uh, just got here before the meeting," Lance explained, chuckling a little. "Didn't know who you were."

 

"I got here yesterday, my moms were _really_ wanting to be prepared."

 

"I mean, my parents were, but then they had to plan around the rest of my siblings and stuff." Lance shrugged, grasping for more topics of conversation.

 

"Moms? I only have," he rolled his eyes to punctuate how lame his life was, "a papi and a mama, but if I had moms, it'd probably would've made it easier for me to come out."

 

Lance shivered as he remembered his closeted fourteen-year-old self.

 

Hunk, who had been holding his breath on his roommate not being a homophobe, let out a long sigh of relief. "Yeah." He grinned sheepishly, "I mean, I'm straight, but having them around from the beginning made me understand a lot of things that some people never get."

 

"Yas! Awareness!" He pumped his fist into the air, wincing when he startled a growing bruise. "Stupid Keith Kogane," he muttered to himself.

 

"Oh! Are you okay? Do you need ice? Do we have ice? I really don't know…. Wait. We don't! Obviously! I only brought a mini fridge! And no ice trays!"

 

"Nah, I've had worse scrapes," Lance dismissed Hunk's rambles with a wave. "Six older siblings. I'm the youngest."

 

"Seven kids?" Hunk gasped. "I'm an only child, holy shit, that must be taxing."

 

"It is," he agreed. "But it's nice."

 

Lance hopped onto the bed that wasn't occupied, and Hunk did the same on his.

 

"So, we should totally have a sleepover," Lance declares, "because I do weird stuff and we need to get all the truths out in the open if we're rooming together for a year."

 

"Aren't we…already having a sleepover?" Hunk asks in confusion.

 

"Nah, we need the works. Pillow forts, Disney movies, popcorn, ice cream," he ticks them off on his fingers. Skeptically, he looks around the small room, but nods confidently to himself. "We can do this."

 

***

 

They watch _Mulan_ , then _Princess and the Frog_ , and lastly _Big Hero 6_ before Lance decreed that it's exposing time. He went first.

 

"Hm, I'll start easy. I have anxiety, but I take meds and I go to therapy, so that's all good. Nothing to worry about, except you might need to rein me in because when I get socially anxious, I get really obnoxious and loud because I don't know what to do."

 

Hunk smiled kindly, "Okay, that's cool—well, not cool. But…y'know." Lance nodded, prompting him to continue. "I was born in Samoa, but I don't have an accent because both of my moms grew up in America and their families were both immigrants. They moved back there a little while before I was born. So, that's kinda crazy."

 

"Ooh," Lance nodded again. He felt like a bobble head. "That's super cool! I guess sometimes you need to go back to your roots. I, myself, am actually Cuban. But my family moved a little after they had me because all my other siblings were, well, older," he remarked, a little bitter at being the youngest.

 

"Now, _I_ don't really have a Cuban accent when I talk in English because I didn't learn English from my parents so I wasn't taught to say it that way."

 

"Do you go back to Cuba?"

 

"We try to go every few summers, big family, y'know, budget's tight, but it's so great whenever we visit. Abuelita loves me more than anyone else, so ha."

 

They both giggled, their faces blue from Lance's blanket draped as a roof overhead and the light that reflected the color from the computer.

 

"So, how do you identify?" Hunk asked. "You mentioned having to come out earlier."

 

"Oh, yeah! I'm bi! And…"

 

"And?" he prompted.

 

"And I may or may not have the biggest crush I've ever had in my freakin' life…on Keith Kogane."

 

Hunk's reaction was perfect. Wide eyes, a gasp that left his mouth in an 'o' shape, causing Lance to let out a few nervous laughs in embarrassment, but also because his facial expression was so comical.

 

"But—today—you were insulting him everywhere!"

 

"I lost my abilities to flirt! I didn't know how to talk to him! And it was the only way to get him to talk! He didn't even say hi to me!"

 

"You were flirting with Allura just fine!"

 

"Well, Allura's a goddess and she's way out of my league, and, like, a million years older than me!"

 

"And Keith?"

 

"Keith's a devil and that's why he's so hot. _Obviously_. He decided to 'grace us with his presence,'" Lance continued in air quotes, "and I don't have a chance with him!"

 

"That…sounded…less crush-y, and more…I don't even know, is this how you describe people that you like? Like they came from Hell?"

 

"No! Keith's different! He's special. Did you see his eyes?" He dropped his voice to demonstrate how serious the topic is, "They're purple! Who has _purple_ eyes? He's so cute—!"

 

"M'kay," Hunk interrupted, "that's more crush-y."

 

***

 

"What do you mean," Keith asked slowly, "that we're hosting a Voltron movie night?"

 

Shiro shrugged, "They were asking if anyone was available…. Hunk and Lance live in the dorms and they weren't sure how their roommates would react—it'd probably be too small even if they agreed and, I don't know, Pidge didn't even volunteer. So, I said we could do it."

 

"I was in the bathroom fixing my face! You obviously knew what you were doing!"

 

He didn't deny it for a moment, a tiny smirk playing on his lips before he replied, "I have no clue what you're talking about, kiddo."

 

"I told you to stop calling me that," Keith muttered in frustration. "And you totally do!"

 

"Maybe…maybe not."

 

"Takashi Shirogane!" Keith aggressively threw a pillow at his bedroom door, but Shiro was already pulling it closed—exiting as swiftly as he had entered. "Fuck you!"

 

A muffled amused chastisement came through the door, "Language!"

 

"I don't give a shit about language!"

 

"You're taking creative writing!"

 

"Shut up!"

 

***

 

Keith's first class was for his creative writing major. And, fucking naturally, Lance Mc-Fucking-Clain was getting the same major and had the same fucking class as him. On a fucking _Monday morning_. Fuck.

 

He also was maybe always sullen about how Shiro constantly reminded him about cursing that he cussed a lot in his head.

 

Keith could only pray that the rest of his creative writing classes were safe from the little shit. Did he know Lance personally? No, but he made him smash his face into the wall and he had the right to be pissed. And call him rude names. So, ha.

 

"Hey!" Keith stared _very_ intently at the phone in his hands. "Mullet!" He shrunk in his seat as a few people chuckled at the nickname.

 

Whatever. He had to have gotten the message that he didn't want to talk.

 

A bag was plopped on the desk to his. "Welcome to the Introduction to Fiction!"

 

Or not.

 

"Can you at least say hello back?"

 

"Hello back," he responded dryly, scrolling through nonexistent social media.

 

Lance didn't say anything for a few seconds, then: "Uh…Mullet? Are you aware that your phone is off?"

 

He got caught.

 

"Maybe I just wanted to scroll on my blank screen," he muttered back.

 

"Um, okay. That's cool." A nervous laugh came out with his words as he went on, "I totally forgot you had the same major as me."

 

"And illustration."

 

"Hm?"

 

Keith, personally, couldn't believe he was willingly talking to him, but went on. "My second major is illustration."

 

"Oh! I kn—that's totally cool, ha," Lance replied flusteredly.

 

An unimpressed brow was raised and Lance hurried to go on.

 

"I'm actually double-majoring too! In musical theatre. 'Seasons of Love' and 'All That Jazz.' That was a reference to—"

 

" _Rent_ and _Chicago_ ," Keith interrupted. "I know."

 

"Oh? So, you think you know _Rent_ better than me?"

 

"I didn't—"

 

"All the songs in order, let's go!"

 

***

 

Keith slammed the apartment door angrily.

 

Shiro looked up from whatever paper he was reading. "Keith? You okay?"

 

"Lance McClain!"

 

"What?"

 

"He's taking the same class as me and he made so many comments about my _shitty_ hairstyle"—he ignored Shiro's warning look and went on—"and he questioned my knowledge of _Rent_ and _Chicago_ so he challenged me to saying all the songs in order!"

 

"Did you lose?" was the only thing that Shiro could think to say.

 

"Of course not!" Keith snorted. "Who do you think I am?"

 

He didn't wait for an answer, choosing to slam his bedroom door shut as he screamed in frustration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tune in in two weeks for movie night!


	2. Everyone Has Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Voltron Movie Night! Another icebreaker that leads to cuddling, sleeping over, and a shitload of blankets.
> 
> Keith has a nightmare, Lance checks him out, Shiro finds out, Allura _goes_ all out, Hunk saves, Pidge bullshits, and Coran is...really nonexistent. I’m sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey. so, i just wanted to clear a few things out that you guys maybe didn’t notice issues with? but i did.
> 
> space has two move-in days now. so, hunk came on day one and lance came on day two. voltron is part of orientation for anyone involved, which is why the first meeting took place right after move-in.
> 
> voltron is also going to be doing a lot of volunteering. it’s not just some bullshit club i made up (well, it is...but, y’know).
> 
> and i’ve just designed all of lance’s family and i’ll slip in little references starting next chapter.  
> (lance is the youngest of seven by eight years. (no, i’m not projecting myself, stfu.) his oldest sibling is twenty years older than him.)
> 
> so, yeah. go read the story. skip past this, it’s pretty lowkey.
> 
> and, if you haven’t, go read the other fic in this series so you can understand keith better!
> 
> (you’ll find out that the shiroganes adopted him when he was seven btw.)

**One Year Ago (Still), That Week's Wednesday**

 

_He's ready when he finds it on the school computer._

_'Gay,' it says. Keith knows what this means. He's nine,_ of course _he knows what it is to be gay...he was just hoping for a different outcome._

_Keith knows that being gay means homophobes. Keith knows that being gay means that the Shiroganes aren't going to keep him for long after they find out._

_It's been two years and he feels accepted into their family. But it’s been two years and he’s been walking on eggshells and waiting for them to kick him out._

_This is the final straw, he knows. He's out of this house._

_At least, he thinks, they won't have to kick me out._

_***_

_"Do you want a piggyback ride?" Takashi asks him as he picks him up from school. He knows something's up._

_Keith shakes his head dismissively and stares down at the ground. "I'm just tired," he whispers._

_"Really? You want to walk on your tired feet?"_

_"We're almost at your car," Little Keith says with all his boyhood anger. "Just leave me alone."_

_"Hey, hey, hey," Takashi reprimands, bending down and pulling Keith's arm so he stops and looks at him. "What's up? Are you okay?"_

_Keith rolls his eyes, he's still mastering it, and his eyes just go up instead of around. "I'm fine," he spits. Then he gets teary-eyed and he ferociously blinks the wetness back. "I wanna go home."_

_The seventeen-year-old relents. "Okay...but we'll talk later, yeah?"_

_"No." He stomps to the car._

_Takashi watches him go before following after him slowly._

_***_

_"Hey, kiddo." He has to check up on him after Takashi had told him what happened at school today._

_His eyes widen when he sees the backpack his son is holding. "Where you going?"_

_"I have to leave," Keith says in his serious nine-year-old voice, that always manages to amuse his dad._

_Mr. Shirogane doesn't smile this time. "Why?"_

_"Because," Keith replies tersely._

_"Ok, kiddo, I need you to sit down and explain to me why you have to leave."_

_Keith's eyes go from his bed, to the door, to his father and back again. "No!"_

_His tiny legs try to make a run for it._

_His tiny legs fail._

_Catching him by his backpack handle, Reo Shirogane sighs. "Keith...what's wrong?"_

_Dang it. He thought he wouldn't cry. His eyes begin to water and he desperately hugs onto Reo's leg._

_"Don't make me leave!" he sobs. "Please, don't make me leave."_

_"Hinata! Takashi!" Reo calls loudly before turning back to the kid on him. He needs Keith to know that none of them are going to get rid of him._

_Reo kneels down and hugs him tightly. "I won't," Mr. Shirogane promises, running his hands through Keith's hair._

_Hinata is the first one to the room. She let's out a soft gasp when she sees Keith's anguish. "Oh, baby..."_

_She kneels down next to her husband and takes Keith's hand in hers. "What's wrong, Red?"_

_That only makes more harsh sobs wrack through his body. "You're going to make me leave," he cries out. "And I love you!"_

_Everything seems to stop. Keith had refused to say the phrase for the two years they'd had him, and they understood. But now...._

_"Keith," Takashi speaks from behind them. "Keith, you're right. We can't love you anymore."_

_Hinata shakes her head and pulls her hand back. "You killed us."_

_"That's unforgivable," Reo says, his voice harsh as he stands up._

_Hinata's shoulder lights on fire and he looks at her in surprise. "Mom?!"_

_"I am not your mother," Hinata says brusquely as the flames cover her. "You are no son of mine."_

 

Keith woke up with a jerk, his body covered in cold sweat, tears washing down his cheeks.

 

Grumbling, he got out of bed slowly, the tears still coming. "Shower time," he mumbled to himself.

 

***

 

Keith let the water rush down around him and his mind goes straight back to the nightmare.

 

He has them occasionally. Perks of having your parents' blood on your hands. He'd been getting them more often, actually. It'd gotten to the point where he put off going to sleep until he absolutely had to.

 

He remembered that day the nightmare conveyed clearly. It just didn't play out as…bad.

 

_"You're going to make me leave," he had cried out. "And I love you!"_

 

Keith remembered how powerless he had felt in that moment. He didn't think they loved him back.

 

_"Keith," Shiro now, Takashi then, spoke from behind them. "Keith, we love you too."_

_"No, you don't!" Keith weeped. "You won't love me anymore."_

_"We'll always love you," they all answered simultaneously._

_Steeling himself, he had pulled away from his parents slowly, furiously scrubbing at his eyes. He tightened his grip on his backpack._

_"Not anymore."_

_"Red, why do you think we wouldn't love you anymore?" His mom tentatively reached out a hand for him to take, not knowing how he'd react._

_He was in physical pain as he refrained himself from grabbing her hand. "I'm gay," he murmured finally. "And you won't like me if I like boys."_

_Takashi stepped up then. "Oh, Keith." He picked the four-foot-tall boy up gently before sitting on Keith's bed, having Keith sit on his lap._

_Keith turned his head into Takashi's shirt and cried._

_"I like boys too," Takashi told him softly, but loud enough that his parents heard, "and that's okay. I like girls and guys. I just like people in general, I'm pansexual."_

_Keith shook his head harshly. "You're just..." The words, 'saying that' die on his tongue as his brain registers what Takashi just said._

_He pulled his head away to look up at his brother, "You do?"_

_"Yeah," he told him gently._

_"Keith," Reo interjected, "we'd never get rid of you. You're stuck with us forever, you hear me?"_

_Keith turned towards them, his cheeks tearstained and his eyes puffy. "I hear you," he murmured back softly._

 

A faint, sad smile came onto his face as he recalled the memory.

 

That had been the day Shiro had come out.

 

***

 

"Do we have to be the ones to host this?"

 

"Yes! We agreed days—"

 

"No, _you_ agreed days ago when my _face_ was broken."

 

"Guess that shows you shouldn't break your face."

 

"Takashi Shirogane, you are an asshole."

 

"Keith Kogane, I was just stating the facts."

 

"Oh my god, you know you said you would when you knew I wasn't there!" Keith yelled over the popcorn being popped in the microwave.

 

"That's a lot of things I knew," Shiro replied, chuckling at Keith's irritated face. "Look, I'll be the host. You'll just be another partygoer."

 

"Ugh," Keith groaned, listening for the popping to slow before opening the microwave loudly. "This is so stupid. Why is Voltron such an intense scholarship?"

 

"Keith," Shiro chided, sliding a bowl over for his brother to empty the popcorn into. "You knew what you signed up for. And, it's more like, why is Voltron such an intense club that gives me money? And by the end of the sentence, you realize why."

 

Sighing dejectedly, he nodded as he opened the bag and emptied its contents into the bowl. "Guess I do, but why," he drawled the 'why' out excessively to get his point across, "did Lance have to get in Voltron too?"

 

Laughing, Shiro patted his back. "You'll learn to work with him. In my first year—"

 

"Some guy named Slav bothered the hell out of you. He always kept predicting things that didn't make any sense, blah blah blah." Rolling his eyes, he finished the over-told tale of the 'Annoying Alternate Reality Fucker.'

 

Keith had been so surprised when Shiro cussed about Slav the first time he heard about him, he'd fallen off a chair.

 

"I'm so glad he transferred this year," Shiro admitted.

 

"I know," Keith told him back, rolling his eyes again for good measure. "You went out and got drunk to celebrate. He really did bring out the wild side of you."

 

Swatting his brother on the head, Shiro laughed in agreement.

 

That fucker.

 

A knock on the door had Keith's smile turning into a grimace. "Body language," Shiro reminded him.

 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

 

***

 

Blankets. Were. Everywhere. Pidge had managed to curl herself into a tight cocoon of two blankets, and laid on the floor, watching _Jumanji_ intently.

 

She had been the first to arrive, a large green sweatshirt and white ripped jeans on. The sweatshirt said, "It's not a conspiracy theory, when you can back it up with facts."

 

Suffice to say, she had won Keith over. Not that she needed to know that.

 

Second, had been both Allura and Coran. They'd brought brownies. The thought, 'they got brownie points' had almost made Keith smile to himself.

 

Almost.

 

It didn't help that he'd only gotten about two hours of sleep that night after the bad dream before he had to get up for breakfast before class. He was grouchy.

 

Allura was wearing a formal dress and it made the eighteen-year-old confused. What was she expecting from a movie night? Some kind of ball? She, Coran, and Shiro had claimed the couch, each with a blanket around their laps.

 

Keith sat against Shiro's legs, watching the movie with considerably less interest than the other people in his age group. Lance and Hunk laid next to Pidge—Lance in the middle, his arms splayed out so far that Pidge had lightly laid her head against his left one and Hunk's back was being used as an armrest.

 

Keith watched as Lance lightly tapped Pidge's head and murmured near it before she lifted her head with a nod. He slipped his arm out from under her before pushing himself up with the arm that no longer resided on Hunk's back.

 

He turned to face Keith and all Keith could do was blink back at him, forcing himself to not look at his exposed collarbone due to his giant navy S.P.A.C.E. sweatshirt that fell down to his thighs clad in tight light blue jeans.

 

Basically, Keith was trying to focus on Lance's face.

 

But not his eyes. He didn't want to get _lost_ in them or whatever.

 

Keith decided that looking right above Lance's head was the best idea.

 

"Hey," Lance whispered, "I'm thirsty. Do you have anything to drink?"

 

"Oh, Keith, go show him," Shiro said, nudging Keith up with his foot gently.

 

Rolling his eyes at Shiro's persistent jabs, he stood up with a stretch that had his back cracking pleasantly. When he looked over again, Lance and Shiro were in some kind of strange staring contest, Shiro wearing a strange smirk.

 

"Uh…" He glanced between the two of them repeatedly. "Lance, come on."

 

***

 

OMFreakingGosh is all Lance could really register right then. Shiro. Knew. He. Liked. Keith.

 

In Lance's defense, he was just checking out what kind of muscles Keith had under that hoodie he was wearing.

 

He was _not_ disappointed. The glimpse of abs looked _lean and ridiculously sexy_. Nice. And just the hint of a dark Happy Trail.

 

That was enough for about a month of wet dreams, as he and Hunk (unintentionally, on Hunk's part at least) discovered.

 

"We have water, Sprite, root beer, and orange juice," Keith announced, peering into the fridge.

 

"Could you get me a Sprite?" Pidge asked from the other room.

 

"And me a root beer?" Coran inquired joyfully.

 

"I'd like orange juice. Iced, please," Hunk requested politely.

 

"Ooh, I'd love water!"

 

"Kiddo, get me something too."

 

"You're laughing!" Keith burst out in exasperation at Shiro.

 

"I'm not."

 

"You're lying!"

 

"I don't know what you're talking about."

 

"He's laughing so hard right now though," Pidge said in amusement.

 

"Asshole," Keith insulted over Shiro's betrayed gasp.

 

He slowly pulled his head out of the fridge to bang it repeatedly on the counter before turning to Lance who's still kind of freaking out about _Shiro Knowing_. "Did you happen to catch any of that?"

 

"Two Sprites, root beer, iced orange juice, water, and whatever Shiro wants," Lance answered automatically.

 

Keith raised an impressed eyebrow. "How'd you remember that?"

 

Lance tried to ignore the way his heart picks up its lub-DUB rhythm the second Keith paid attention to him. "I have a million family members and the _second_ you get up for something they all want something too 'while you're up.'"

 

He should leave it at that.

 

He should leave it at that.

 

He should—

 

"Why, Mullet? Jealous of my memorizing skills?" He put on a cocky smirk, despite the internal anxiety and face-palming feeling.

 

"I believe," Keith replied hotly, "that I was the one who knew all the songs _in order_ of _Rent_ and _Chicago_!"

 

Fair point.

 

"Oh, really—"

 

"Lance!" Hunk yelled through the apartment, louder than needed because he was literally not even a room away due to the open layout.

 

But thank goodness for him. He could've said some pretty bad stuff. "Yeah, buddy?" he decided to ask instead of thanking him because other people might get suspicious.

 

"Um…do you guys need any help with the drinks?"

 

Lance watched as Keith aggressively threw a cabinet door open, took out three cups, and slammed them down on the counter before swinging the fridge door open aggressively. "…I think we're good."

 

Keith had brusquely ordered him to pour the orange juice after having nothing else to slam as he rips open the box holding root beer.

 

Shakily, Lance does just that, awkwardly spilling a little on the counter from his anxious hands.

 

"Seriously?! You can't even pour?!"

 

Breathe in. One, two, three. Breathe out. One, two, three, four, five.

 

"Well, why don't you do it?!" Lance exclaimed. He should really talk to his therapist about his coping skills if he's going to be talking to Keith more.

 

"Fine! You can get the ice!"

 

"Fine!"

 

"Fine!"

 

***

 

They'd finished _Jumanji_ and _Iron Man_. By the middle of _Back to the Future_ —around eleven—everyone was on the floor, except for Coran who had claimed the entire couch. Pillows and blankets littered every available square inch of the ground and bodies weaved in and out of the bedding and limbs.

 

Shiro rested on his side, holding his head up with his hand braced by his elbow and the ground. Keith laid perpendicular to him on his stomach, his ankles up on the side of his older brother's calf so his feet were slightly in the air as he _also_ held his head up with his hands and elbows.

 

Pidge was ahead of him, parallel to Shiro and almost blocking Keith's view of the movie, but she was small enough that he could watch without any problems. Still in her cocoon of blankets, she was barely visible, apart from her head that was laying on Lance's back.

 

He was in a similar position like Keith, but had nothing to hold his legs up so he'd periodically drop them to rest.

 

Hunk was sitting against the couch, patiently letting Coran's leg rest against the back of his shoulders and Allura's head rest against his knees. Keith examined Hunk more closely and realized he was actually _asleep_. Smiling to himself, he turned back to face the screen. Michael J. Fox was…well, a fox.

 

"Admiring your first celebrity crush?" Shiro teased from his position.

 

Keith harshly kicked his leg down to connect with Shiro's calf, smirking when the man let out a surprised yelp. "He was _not_ my first celebrity crush!"

 

"Oh, right. It was Dick Van Dyke, right?"

 

"Fuck you."

 

"You just liked how flexible he was," was the mock he received.

 

Pidge cackled from her place ahead of Keith. "DIck Van Dyke and then Michael J. Fox? You're such an old person."

 

"Dick Van Dyke…" Allura thought to herself. "He was in _Mary Poppins_ , right?"

 

"He's adorable, okay?!" Keith exclaimed, his face burning. "And, I liked _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_ better anyway."

 

"You just like guys who can sing," Shiro commented, joining in Pidge's laughter.

 

"Shut the hell up!" he whined, angered and embarrassed that his tough boy cover had been lifted already.

 

"To be fair," Lance spoke up. "Robin Williams was one of my first guy celebrity crushes."

 

There was a pause and then Pidge spoke up. "Wasn't he old in everything?"

 

Lance gasped. "I'll have you know that in _Mork and Mindy_ , he was, like, twenty-seven!"

 

Wait a second.

 

Shit.

 

 _He_?

 

Guy celebrity crush?!

 

Lance, apparently, wasn’t as straight as Keith thought. But all he could think to say was: "What the fuck is _Mork and Mindy_?"

 

He shouldn't have asked, he found out later. It took Lance over fifteen minutes to explain the show it was a _spinoff_ of.

 

***

 

"Holy shit! It's twelve in the morning!" Hunk exclaimed when he woke up. The television had been black for a while and Shiro, Pidge, Lance, Keith, and Allura had been having random conversations while Coran and Hunk snored behind them.

 

There was talk about everyone sleeping over, but when Lance announced that he had to get a head-start on his homework early in the morning and Hunk had a relatively early class, Allura and Coran offered to drive them and Pidge home.

 

"I can walk!" Pidge piped up immediately.

 

Everyone turned to look at her like she was crazy. "Pidge," Allura started slowly. "It's twelve o'clock. In the morning. You're sixteen."

 

Pidge stared at her blankly.

 

"We'll drive you. Just for safety," Allura clarified.

 

"Well, shit, y'know, my dorm is on the other side of where you live," she replied, her face a perfect expression of innocence even though they hadn’t said where they lived.

 

"Pidge," Lance asked exasperated, "why don't you want them to take you home?"

 

"No reason!" She glanced between them—all with faces that screamed 'I-call-bullshit.'

 

"Pidge," Shiro tried, "could you just tell us why you don't want us to take you home?"

 

Silently, Keith walked away and everyone wordlessly followed him with his eyes as he disappeared into his room.

 

"Um…?" Hunk started questioningly.

 

Keith emerged with sweatpants and a shirt in his hands and mutely threw them at Pidge before turning to the couch and throwing the cushions onto the floor.

 

"Guess you're staying here tonight," Shiro declared as he fondly watched Keith start putting sheets on the couch and grabbing pillows and blankets.

 

"Oh," Pidge said in disbelief, sweatpants hanging on her head and the shirt by her feet. She wasn't that good at catching, okay?

 

Lance snorted and picked them up and put them in her hands. "Go change, we'll see you later." His eyebrows were knit together in concern, but he had a strangely soft voice when he spoke to her.

 

"Yeah. Okay." Her eyes shifted between the other bystanders. "Thanks. I'll, uh—Night."

 

"Good night! Thank you for letting us do movie night here, Shiro and Keith!" Allura smiled politely, reaching for the door.

 

Lance and Hunk chorused together with their own thanks and good-nights.

 

"And sweet dreams!" Coran piped up cheerfully.

 

"It was no problem at all," Shiro replied, ever the gentleman. "Good night, you guys."

 

Keith grunted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you made it! so, this fic is pretty shitty. anyhow, just so you guys know, keith won’t realize he has a crush on lance ‘til sophomore year.
> 
> which probably won’t happen for six chapters. it’s tagged slow burn for a reason.
> 
> lance, on the other hand, will have the biggest motherfucking crush on keith and everyone knows.
> 
> just some forewarning.
> 
> ok, so, i’m having trouble choosing what tense i want this story to be in. if you guys like past or present better, tell me lol. i’m so indecisive.
> 
> next chapter will be more lance-centric (tho this story is keith-centric overall). it’ll be december 27th when i post, so hopefully more words.
> 
> anyhow. good vibes to all and tune in in two weeks for finding out what’s up with pidge, shiro confronting lance, and a voltron team meeting.
> 
> peaceeeeee!!


	3. Meet the McClains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time to meet all of Lance's family! Go through Lance's memories as he tries to remember lessons his siblings taught him.
> 
> (no klance, i’m sorry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmkay. to be fair, it’s 11:32 where i am, so this is on time.
> 
> ages of lance's fam in THIS CHAPTER (so not in the exact present):
> 
> neo - 38  
> zelia - 35  
> mari - 31  
> eterio - 27  
> quito and amrita (q 'n a) - 26  
> lance - 18
> 
> a few spanish words that i dabbled in:
> 
> chacho(a) - boy/girl "dude"  
> vato - another form of dude  
> de nada - you’re welcome
> 
> i think that’s it. enjoy!!

**Freshman Year, Next Day**

 

Lance woke up at seven o'clock despite having no class on Friday. He wanted to organize everything for his classes now that the first week was over. And he needed to get it done _before_ that afternoon.

He yawned and stretched, being careful to not wake Hunk, he got ready and slipped out of the door. "Okay," he murmured to himself, taking his phone out—he was going to need Google Maps.

By ten o'clock, Lance had color-coded the binders he had gone and bought earlier that day—along with new pencils, notebook paper, and, naturally, breakfast he had picked up for himself (and Hunk before he had to leave for his job that he'd somehow already obtained in the week he'd been there)—read over syllabuses more carefully, and scheduled out a homework plan with flexible hours.

"This is the most productive I've felt in my entire life," he said triumphantly when he finished victoriously, throwing his arms up in the air. He smiled as Hunk congratulated him as he got ready for work.

Now, normally, Lance wasn't a very organized person, but he decided he had to become more responsible now that he was on his own. He'd also applied to several jobs, ready to work at the drop of a hat.

Fridays were going to be special, which was also partially why he was being so efficient. Fridays, Lance was to hop on a bus for a two hour commute and arrive at his parents' house. This was because of a certain little niece of his named Violetta.

"Two hours time is more than enough time to off someone inconspicuously," Lance had mused over Beyonce while he packed his overnight bag.

Violetta was three—four on that September ninth. She was, technically (and biologically), the daughter of Eterio (his middle sibling), but Lance's parents had adopted her.

The rundown was that Eterio was dating a mega-bitch named Heather and they had two kids: Charo (six years old) and Violetta. Heather was getting tired of taking care of the two daughters and decided that, hey, I don't want one of these kids. Bye bye, Violetta.

Neo, though he had a family already, was going through some things with his household (namely, Calypso, his youngest was rebelling. A lot.) and he considered taking Violetta in, but everyone convinced him against it for his own good. Zelia was barely able to financially take care of her own child comfortably. Mari had just gotten married and she and her wife had two six-year-olds to take care of. Quito had just gone back to college as a grad and Amrita, his twin, was _still_ in school as she studied to become a vet.

The options were few and far between, so, Lance's parents, his beautiful, fifty-eight-year-old _parents_ had offered to take care of Violetta. Rosa and Carlos had had children over a span of twenty years. Now, it was thirty-eight.

Lance decided that it was his turn to step up and help out. He was eight years younger than the twins and twenty years younger than Neo, everyone had been able to assist raising him. He decided it was his time to do the same. He struggled to remember everything his family had done with him when he was younger.

***

_"Okay, Ale," Neo whispered softly, shaking him awake in the middle of the night. He was five at the time and the twenty-five-year-old was visiting for Thanksgiving._

_"Mm," Alejandro (or Lance, a name he had adopted that he used off and on at the time, but not for family) murmured sleepily. "No."_

_"No?" he chuckled back softly, brushing the bedhead out of the preschooler's eyes. "You don't want to make midnight hot chocolate and stargaze?"_

_Alejandro's eyes snapped open. "Hot chocolate?" He held out his hand expectantly, grabbing at the air expectantly for the mug of cocoa goodness._

_"No, Silly, come on. We're going to make some."_

_Sleepy Five-Year-Old Lance looked at him for a good few seconds before he nodded slowly. "Piggyback?"_

_Laughing silently, he turned over as he waited for the telltale small arms wrapping around his neck before standing up. "We've gotta be quiet, okay? Silencio," he demonstrated by exaggeratingly whispering._

_Ale nodded against the nape of his neck, giggling into the spot quietly. "Okay."_

_Despite his warnings, Neo flew down the steps playfully, his shushing futile as the boy on his back let out a string of laughter and whooped._

_"I told you to be quiet," he grumbled teasingly as he set him on the counter before turning to the fridge to fetch a jug of milk._

_"It was fun!" Alejandro announced to the house, substantially lowering his voice after his eldest brother shot him a look. "I couldn't_ not _be quiet."_

_Snorting, Neo turned to the radio. "Of course you couldn't." Spanish words crooned softly out of the device a second later and the older one did a very insane looking dance to the younger one's amusement—if the uncontrollable giggling was anything to go by._

_Soon, Ale was doing his own little dance on the top of the counter and they both chuckled soundlessly, pressing their foreheads together as they grinned at each other._

_Neo stuck his tongue out and Ale mocked him, his whole face mushing together with laughter._

_"You're so cute," the twenty-five-year-old whispered softly after a second. "I love you, bud."_

_Giggling, Alejandro leaned forward to press a kiss onto his older brother's nose. "I love you too!"_

_"Who couldn't love this face?" he teased. "Now, do you want some hot chocolate?"_

***

Lance didn't remember that night. He didn't remember how they'd stayed up pointing out stars (his were made up, but Neo actually knew about some). He didn't remember how he hadn't been able to get out of bed until eleven o'clock, which was very late for his young self. He didn't remember how much trouble Neo got in with his mother when she found out.

Lance didn't even remember that that was when he got the nickname Jano, which was not only a nickname for Alejandro, but also a moon of Saturn.

He figured that Neo was already taking care of Xavier who had been born the previous year, and his newly wedded wife who was already pregnant again (two accidents in a row, whoops!). Lance still had trouble knowing that Neo really loved him as a brother and not just as his basically child. Being twenty years younger did that to him.

***

_"Zelia," Alejandro whimpered softly, fighting off the urge to cry even as tears pricked at his eyes. The three-year-old had fallen off of his tricycle while they were outside playing._

_"Ale!" Arms lifted him up and he completely lost it, bawling his head off. "Shhh, manito," his big sister whispered softly as she brought him into the house and up the steps. Her arms rested underneath his rear while she ran into the bathroom and sat him down on the toilet._

_Ale really had no control over his feelings and mouth, slurring out words that no normal person could understand._

_Thankfully, the twenty-year-old was the older sibling to five and had faced many injuries before. "Alejandrito," she hummed quietly, "your hands hurt?"_

_He nodded while also shaking his head with wails that were gradually subsiding. "An'-an'—"_

_She gently grabbed his hands, examining the slightly scratched surface. "And your knees? Did you catch yourself on all fours?"_

_He nodded again, his face red from crying. "I-I f-f'wel!"_

_"Shhh, I know, buddy, I know." Afterall, summertime was for playing outside which always, without fail, resulted in some kind of injury._

_She turned to the bathroom closet that held all kinds of treasures—from extra toothpaste to Q-tips. Fishing out some band-aids and ointment, she turned around to face her poor brother._

_"M'kay," she grinned and held up two different boxes, "Dora or Blue's Clues?"_

_He stared at the boxes before grinning back at her, his tears forgotten. "Dora!"_

_She ruffled his hair before starting to tend to his wounds that really weren't that bad, but to a three-year-old...they definitely were._

_Distracting him with a conversation about birds that was going everywhere, she managed to finish without any tears. "You're all good, buddy!"_

_He responded with a slurred echo of the words, still having trouble pronouncing and getting words across._

_"Yep, you're good as new!" She smiled at him, her expression as bright as her name that meant sunshine. "You want to draw now?"_

***

Okay. Lance got that one. Distractions when hurt. It wasn’t that he remembered that particular event, but it had happened _so many times_ that every McClain knew how to treat that, but he was getting overly stressed for something he knew how to do.

***  
 _"Hey, Lance?"_

_Oh. Shit. He should've known that Mariposa wouldn't knock. She was visiting to showcase her girlfriend, Elle. She was pretty cool, but Lance didn't think anyone deserved Mari._

_He threw his head into the pillows on his bed before the door could open all the way and feigned sleep._

_"Buddy," the twenty-four-year-old chuckled softly, moving to sit on the bed, "you're terrible at acting."_

_He didn't reply, trying to remain perfectly still. Unfortunately, his body liked to jerk involuntarily when it was told to be slack._

_Didn't help that the elven-year-old was crying._

_"Jano? Are you okay?" She ran a hand through his hair and he let out a little sob._

_"Go away."_

_"Babe, come on," Mari went on, gently trying to get to his face as she traced down his ear. "I'm right here. I got you, yeah?"_

_He didn't want to admit why he was crying. It was stupid. He'd dealt with it his whole life. It didn't matter._

_So, he decided to hurt instead of explain. "I hate you!"_

_The hand stopped. "Hate is a strong word—"_

_"Well, maybe, that's why I said it!" Lance yelled into the pillow._

_"Oh," was the response he got after a second. "Sometimes, you just hate someone. That's okay."_

_He screamed in frustration. Why wasn't_ she _crying too?!_

_"Get out of my room," he whimpered finally._

_"Lance, are you feeling okay?"_

_"Get out of my room!"_

_"Five minutes, bud," Mari replied. "I'll be back in five minutes. And you'll tell me what's going on."_

_Sometimes, Lance hated how Mari knew just what to do. It was so_ frustrating _._

_Thirty seconds in, he started to get bored with crying, waiting for her to come back desperately._

_Thirty seconds later, he realized he really wanted a hug._

_At the one minute and a half mark, he was ready to march out of bed and get Mari himself, but he stayed strong. He also didn't want to get up._

_He lost it at two minutes and whined out her name._

_"Janito?" she whispered as she creaked open the door. "Did you call me?"_

_He rolled onto his back and nodded at her, his eyes welling up with new tears._

_"Oh, honey," she murmured, sliding behind him so her back rested against the wall. She folded one leg and let the other lay straight, having Lance rest against that limb and lay his head against the crossed one._

_He sobbed against her leg. "I hate being the youngest," he cried out. "Everyone is gone and you're all adults. Jazzy is two years younger than me," he whined. "She's my niece!"_

_"Let it out," she replied, massaging his scalp as he spoke. "Just talk to me."_

_So, he did. Lance ranted about how everyone treated him as if he was their kid, but they were siblings. About how he didn't understand half the things they talked about because it was an inside joke or he was too young to get it. About how Zelia's kid was nine and Xavier was seven. About how close in age they were going to be when they were all old._

_"I don't_ want _to be close to them!" he blubbered. "I want to be close to you guys!"_

_By then, Mari had gotten the gist of things and was prepared to send a ten page email to her whole family about how they needed to include Lance more because he was seriously messed up about it—_

_"Never mind," Ale grumbled, "it's not important." And just like that, he smiled and sat up in the bed. "I need to go check out Elle more," he announced. "Make sure she's good enough for you."_

_Her eyebrows knitted together in concern. How long had he been doing this? Covering up his emotions so effortlessly?_

_"Listen, Alejandro," his eyes widened at hearing his full name, "it is important and I'm calling a family meeting and everyone's going to get their asses over here and we're going to talk about this."_

_"No—!"_

_"Yes," Mari said sternly._

_"...Okay," Lance agreed. "Siblings only?"_

_"Sure, siblings only," she nodded. "Now, let's go." She stood up and stretched._

_"Mari?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I don't hate you…." Lance whispered, looking at the ground meekly._

_"Hey, it's fine. I know you don't."_

_"Well," Lance went on anyway, "I love you."_

***

The family meeting the next day was fun and enlightening for everyone involved. Mari had good ideas like that. Neo had flown in with a need of a break from being a father. Zelia had brought Jazzy Joy Cunningham with her and Eterio had left behind Heather—who he'd recently moved in with—to which everyone was grateful for (she wasn't a family favorite). Even Quito and Amrita had called in from their respective colleges.

It had been a great sibling day that they repeated many times.

What Lance learned from that: use the five minute trick and always listen first, but command when needed.

Got it.

***

_"Okay, you have to change the three to a two and make the zero into a ten," Eterio explained to a seven-year-old Lance._

_"There's a guy in my school who's ten!" Lance exclaimed excitedly, ignoring the subtraction problem that laid on the table. "He's old for his grade! Like Zelia, right?"_

_The sixteen-year-old nodded in exasperation. He'd been trying to teach the kid how to regroup in subtraction for ten minutes. "That's cool, Jano. You need to finish your homework, though."_

_Lance scrunched his face up, "No thanks. You can do it."_

_Eterio laughed in disbelief. "I can do it? No way, vato. I'm just here to help you."_

_He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and looked up at his brother in confusion. "_ No _, you're here to tell me the answers."_

_"I'm here—? No. Lance, you have to learn how to do this on your own."_

_"I do, it's just boring," he rolled his eyes as if it was obvious._

_Eterio's face looked absolutely done with all of it. "Dude, I'm not doing your stuff for you."_

_"But you've been doing it all year."_

_"No, I haven't! I've just been helping you!"_

_"Nope," Lance replied, popping the 'p,' "you've been doing it for me. I thought you knew."_

_His face remained perfectly blank for a few seconds._

_And then Lance found himself thrown onto the carpet and fingers digging into every inch of his body._

_He shrieked with laughter, attempting to worm away, but Eterio was_ much _stronger than him and he didn't have any control over his body. "No! Stop!"_

_"What? Can't get out of this one? Poor Janito," the older brother teased, laughing unabashedly at what he was doing to his younger brother._

_"I'm sorry!"_

_Dang it. He broke really quickly._

_"You are? For tricking me into doing all of your homework?"_

_"Yes!" he begged through his cackles. "I'm sorry! Let me go!"_

_Eterio reluctantly stopped, mostly because he could hear footsteps coming down the steps and he was hoping it wasn't one of his parents._

_Lance's whole body heaved with ragged breaths. "You're mean," he whined after composing himself._

_"And you're a little f—manipulator," he snarled back._

***

There wasn't much to learn from that. Except that tickling was always the best way to get anything.

Always.

***

_"Quito, please," Lance pleaded. "I can't sleep."_

_The jerk was seventeen and still going through his 'I-hate-my-family' phrase (which had started around twelve). Normally, Lance would've gone to Amrita, but she was at a sleepover and Q was the nine-year-old's only hope._

_"I told you," the lump on the bed growled sleepily, "you can't sleep with me."_

_Scoffing, Lance turned away angrily. "What a faggot."_

_Truthfully, he'd never seen anyone move that fast. And he'd been subject to many of Eterio's torturings which included pinning, tickling, and punches. Ouch. Quito had him pressed against the door in under a second._

_"Where did you hear that?" he asked harshly._

_Lance denied that he teared up later (but he had). "Nothing! I didn't—"_

_"Alejandro," the deadly whisper came out and said boy gulped loudly, scared of something he didn't even know he'd done, "you're not allowed to say that word."_

_"Why?"_

_The arms on him faltered for a second. "You don't...know what it means?"_

_Lance shrugged. "Some guys said it to Jack once." Jack was Quito's 'friend,' but everyone knew he was more than that._

_Quito rubbed a hand down his face before gesturing towards his bed. "It's time we had a talk, Lance."_

_Quito explained a lot of stuff to him. Like how he was gay and dating Jack. He also told him that cursing was really offensive and you can only say ten curse words throughout your entire life or else you'll be haunted by spiders for the rest of it._

_"You've already used one," Quito announced, deathly serious. "You only have nine left."_

_Lance swallowed nervously. "But you've said more than ten just now!"_

_"How do you think I know about the Curse of Curses?" Q retorted. "I found out the hard way."_

_He let Lance sleep with him that night. And not just because he knew Lance would have nightmares about the 'Curse of Curses.'_

***

Though Lance discovered the truth eventually, it had become too much of a habit to break and he'd only sworn a few other times. He blamed his sadistic older brother.

He determined that this taught him that making up lies to discourage kids about drugs and cursing was good, but maybe not as harshly as Quito had managed to scare him.

***

_"Rita!" He was four, she was eleven, he was crying, and she was worried._

_"What? Ale? Are you okay?" she rushed over to him._

_"They can't say my name! They can't say Alejandro!"_

_Amrita sighed. It had happened to all of them. "Oh, chacho," she hugged him, ignoring the looks other families were shooting at them. Ale had begged for her to pick him up from his first day of preschool._

_She let him sob into her shirt for a little bit before pulling away. "Hey, you know how Quito goes by Q and I go by A or Rita? And how Mariposa goes by Mari?"_

_The young boy nodded, still looking distraught._

_"Those are nicknames," A explained._

_"I know," Ale sniffed._

_"So...do you want a nickname? In English?" she inquired._

_He nodded slowly. "Something cool!"_

_They spent the rest of the day flipping through books and reading names._

_"Sir...L-lanklot?" Ale sounded out slowly._

_"What?" Amrita looked up from the book she was looking at. "Oh. Sir Lancelot. He was one of King Arthur's knights, or something. Do you like the name?"_

_Ale nodded excitedly. "I like it!"_

_"Why don't we go look him up?"_

***

They had found out that he was Sir Lancelot of the Lake, which was fitting because Lance absolutely loved water. They determined that calling him Lancelot was too much, so they shortened it to Lance.

 _King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table_ was still one of his favorite books.

So, always be there for them. Be prepared to help them change, adapt, and grow.

Got it.

***

"Tío Lance!" He laughed as a tiny body crashed into his legs and he swiftly swooped the body into his arms.

"Violetta! Hey, chacha," he placed a kiss on top of her head and grinned at her to match the smile beaming at him.

"Missed you!" she told him.

"I missed you too. But I've only been gone for a week!" he chuckled and moved to walk into the house where his parents were no doubt waiting.

"Know!" They were still trying to teach her the difference of Spanish and English. You actually had to use pronouns in English, whereas in Spanish it wasn't typically needed.

"I know," he corrected gently. "What have you been up to, Vi?" he playfully nibbled on her neck, amused when she burst into giggles.

"Nothin'!" she replied through her little laughs. "Made a drawin' for you!"

"For me?" He removed a hand from her rear to bring it to his heart dramatically. "Why, thank you."

"De nada!"

***

"Mami," Lance whined to his mother after putting Vi to bed. They sat in the living room watching _The Dick Van Dyke Show_. Not because this guy was Keith Kogane's first celebrity crush. Absolutely not. But... "He's so cute."

Rosa laughed, "I know. This is the third time you've said it this episode."

Lance blushed, "Because he is! He's gorgeous! I want to marry him!"

His mom laughed harder. "Wow, how many spouses is that now?"

Okay. So, maybe, Lance had a thing where he called people his spouses. It was lowkey a problem, but it was fine.

"...One-hundred." He continued to argue over the woman who brought him into the world's snorts, "But that's good! Proves that he's definitely the one." He couldn't help but laugh at himself after a second.

"I can't believe you're my son," Rosa commented, after her giggles had subsided.

Lance threw his hands up in mock exasperation. "You're as dramatic as me, don't pretend."

"I've only married once, however. Beats your one-hundredth marriage," she argued.

He squawked in disbelief. "Rude! It takes a few tries!"

"A few?"

"I see your point...and veto it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was _exhausting_. fun to write tho!! who’s your favorite mcclain sibling/story?
> 
> did you notice that part where mari said that lance was a terrible actor? jokes on her. he’s majoring in musical theatre.
> 
> tune in in two weeks for a voltron team meeting, some pidge, keith, and shiro bonding, and more klance bickering!
> 
> until next time, i’m sending you all good vibes.


	4. august and september

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we're speeding through freshman year! enjoy some keith and pidge bonding, broganes, a little more pidge, and a healthy chunk of klance!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii! back. i'm still on time again. barely, but still. this was longer than usual? but felt really short. anyhow, enjoy!

**Timeline Through Freshman Year**

 

_Day After Movie Night - August_

Keith woke up without remembering that Pidge was sleeping in the living room, he may or may not have yelped when he saw the lump on the couch. _His heart wasn't prepared_.

Shiro had come out a few moments later and Keith was honestly offended when he glanced at the girl with no fear. They discussed what to do with her, but the older one had to go to work.

For some reason, he warned Keith to "be nice" and "don't scare her."

Okay, so, Keith may or may not have been sitting on the table next to the couch and watching her sleep when she woke up.

And Keith may or may not have kept himself from blinking when she screamed bloody murder and yelled, "Holy shit!"

 _Though_ , Keith _definitely_ asked, "Why don't you want us to see where you live?"—right after she'd gathered herself.

"Jeez, good morning to you too," Pidge muttered.

He thought of the best course of action, but before he could even decide between threatening or bribing, she was already breaking.

She worried her lip and all Keith had done was blink at her. He watched her crumble as they had a staring (alternatively dubbed as glaring) competition.

"Okay! Fine! I'll tell you!"

He raised an eyebrow, but was finding that keeping silent was working out very well for him, so, he said nothing.

"I'mnotlivinganywhererightnow," she rushed out quickly. "Because I _kinda_ told my parents that I filled out the dorm papers early, but I didn't apply for dorms until co-ed singles were full! And I wanted to be in co-ed because I'm feeling attracted to _other_ girls and I don't know how comfortable I feel in this body, and I maybe hacked into the S.P.A.C.E. system to fix my absence of address—"

"Pidge," Keith cut in sharply to interrupt her long and winding sentence. He pretended that he wasn't absolutely shocked because one person freaking out was enough, "where the hell are you sleeping then?"

"Ha," she awkwardly laughed, "funny story…."

He had a feeling it wasn't going to be funny.

"So, ya see...I've been lowkey sleeping at a hotel, but it costs _money_ , and I should probably lowkey move to a motel, but then I'd have to put all of my stuff in a storage unit which lowkey costs even more _money_." She pushed her glasses up, "I was fifteen a year ago and didn't realize how important money was, let me tell you."

Keith forwent his original plan to act cool as he struggled to keep himself from screaming while running a hand through his dark hair. "Holy shit, don't say 'lowkey!' It really isn't! And," he added as another thing occurred to him, "how the fuck did you get away with this on the move-in days with your parents?!"

"I might've cashed in a favor with an internet friend that goes here…" Pidge confessed. "I'm also feeling very uncomfortable that a staring contest was all it took before I admitted everything to you."

Keith shrugged, even though he was immensely proud of himself. "I have that effect. So, you need a place to live?" His mind was already whirring with ideas, move the office, move his room—

"Um...yeah. But I think I'll be able to figure something out," she said unconvincingly.

"Yeah," Keith agreed, "I already did."

Her eyes widened, making them look especially creepy due to her large spectacles. "What? I really don't need your help—"

"You can stay with us," he forged on. "This is a moderately large apartment and I can take the office. You could take my room. Anyway, Shiro will definitely agree. And, I don't know…" he trailed off, avoiding her eyes.

What the hell? Where were these emotions coming from?

"What?" she inquired, her curiosity taking over her polite refusal.

"I...like you," Keith muttered. "I don't like people this easily."

Pidge made a 'd'awww' noise and held her chin with the back of her hands, making the iconic 'I'm-innocent' pose before using his words from before in a sickeningly sweet tone, "I tend to have that effect! I'm a totally loveable angel!"

"Are you mocking me…?" he asked slowly, a perplexed look on his face. "In reverse?"

She shrugged. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. You'll never know."

He gasped in indignation. "Fucking rude."

The girl laughed before turning serious. "But, seriously, dude. I can't take up your offer. I don't want to impose. And we barely know each other."

"It'd be like...renting out a room, but for free."

"Free?! No. Keith, I'm not doing this," Pidge argued, shaking her head to accent her point.

"Just think about it!" he argued back, throwing his hands up in frustration. "And while you're thinking...stay with us. Just sleep on the couch. It'll be fine."

They mimicked each other, their hands resting on their hips as they stared each other down. Pidge broke first.

"Fine. But only because most of my other options are illegal."

 

Pidge stayed that night. And the next. On the third night, she told Shiro and Keith that she decided to stay.

***

_The First Voltron Volunteer Event - August_

Voltron did activities, yes, but no one really realized _what_ the activities specifically were. No one realized that they were going to be volunteering, not that that was a bad thing. Except Shiro, that is, who'd conveniently left out how weird this club was.

"So," Keith had drawled slowly after they'd gotten home from the previous meeting where they'd discussed how they were going to a nursing home the next day. Pidge backed him up with a look that said she clearly didn't believe that Shiro had accidentally left out information about Voltron when Keith submitted for it.

"You didn't mention that Voltron is really…" he searched for a word as Shiro glanced between them and the essay he was working on.

"Run by batshit crazy people?" she suggested and Keith hummed in agreement.

"Language, Pidge," Shiro chastised.

Keith shot her the smug grin he did whenever his brother corrected someone other than himself.

She stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.

"Allura and Coran aren't crazy, they just do things differently. Voltron is a club made to reach out to everyone and anyone. This involves volunteering, helping us with our studies and/or careers, learning tactics for the real real world out of college, and...other stuff."

His response would've passed if not for the last tentative part.

"Are you quoting the summary?" Keith accused.

"Wait, I bet he is," Pidge snorted. "He doesn't know what he's doing either."

"Paraphrasing, if you're going to attack me like this," Shiro insisted, removing his reading glasses and turning completely away from his computer to face them. "Anyway, I've been doing this for a year. All the events we're going to do are very helpful."

"Like what?" Keith questioned, obviously not believing him. He narrowed his eyes skeptically.

"Once, we volunteered at a preschool and I talked to the teachers about teaching and it totally helped. I keep in touch with one of them." Shiro gave them both a smug look, "So, ha."

The younger two simultaneously gasped and dramatically threw a hand over their chests.

"Did you just 'so, ha' us?!" Pidge asked incredulously.

Shiro shook his head and turned back to his computer, "You two need to stop hanging out with each other."

"She lives with us now," Keith quipped back, acting as if Pidge was a tag-a-long sister, "I can't get away from her. Ow!" The offended girl had jabbed him right in the ribs.

"If he ever annoys you, just go for the hair," Shiro commented offhandedly.

He flipped his brother's back off, massaging the bruise that was inevitable. "If _he_ ever does _anything_ , go for the knees."

Pidge grinned, "This is going to be interesting."

 

Allura and Coran had explained that with this nursing home, they were to find something helpful to do.

Which was weird, right? Weren't they supposed to be assigned jobs at least?

"No," Allura had responded after Lance had asked the question. "Sometimes, you are given a job and you need to figure out how to do it yourself. Find your place."

Naturally, Hunk had wandered to the kitchen. Lance wanted to help, but determined that he should find something to do for himself.

Shiro had gone straight to a worker with an immediate idea, but Lance didn't know what it was.

Pidge had taken one look at the botany in the room they were in and declared that she was going to fix all of this. She was an agricultural engineer major, so, it was understandable.

Allura and Coran had left the room immediately, saying that they were going to visit everyone.

That left him and Keith. Lance coughed, his heart starting to pound anxiously. "So, uh, you can't think of anything either?" He desperately tried to forget his latest dream, Keith was _right there, in between his legs_ —

"I'm a writer and artist, but I have no social skills," Keith responded drily.

"See, now, I do," he replied, absently looking at a bulletin board to keep himself from staring at the _hot_ boy in front of him. "But talking to them seems like a cop-out since Allura and Coran are too."

When he turned back, Keith was studying him weirdly. "No, it's not. It's a good idea?"

"No, listen," Lance shook his head to figure out how to get Keith to understand. "I want to do something that I came up with, y'know? College means independence."

He started to sweat when Keith just tilted his head in a confused, really adorable way. "You probably wouldn't understand since you live with your brother."

Well, shoot.

"I live with my brother for financial reasons," was the stiff response Lance got. "And because I can. You have no right to judge me."

"I wasn't judging! Just," he scrambled for an excuse, looking around the room desperately, his eyes landing on a poster on the board he'd been previously reading, "aerobics?"

"Aerobics?" Keith asked hotly, his expression revealing that he was ready to throw down in a few seconds.

"Wait, no, look. Aerobics. The session got canceled." He pointed to the notice, admiring his crush's figure as he read it.

"Yeah? And?"

" _And_ ," Lance responded, spreading his arms out dramatically, "what if _we_ did an aerobics session?"

"That seems…. Like an actual good idea," the boy answered in disbelief. "I guess it could work. But neither of us are aerobic teachers?"

"That, my friend, is why Google exists."

 

Lance was proud of how easily he talked to Keith. It probably helped that he could use his acting skills to pretend that he was fine. He gathered all of the elders that were interested while Keith got the supplies and decided what exercises to fo.

It was fun. Keith liked it because Shiro was doing story time and they stole a few of his readers.

Lance liked it because he got to jam out to some loud 70s music and call it jazzercise as he danced around the room. He even caught Keith laughing at him.

At one point, all the seniors were doing a relatively low maintenance exercise and Lance was _exhausted_ from dancing. Resting against the wall, he determined that he was an ass guy from how much he was checking Keith's out.

"Hey, Mullet!"

He watched in amusement as the mullet snapped up and disappeared as Keith turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"I doubt you can do more than twenty push-ups in one set," Lance taunted, smirking.

Keith smirked back and Lance thought it looked a little playful. "Bet."

 

When they all parted ways, before Keith followed Shiro and Pidge, he grabbed Lance's arm.

"You're my friend," he declared bluntly. "But you're annoying."

He trotted to catch up with his group, so he didn't see the way Lance gaped and how his cheeks reddened drastically.

***

_Pidge's Secret - September_

"Hey, guys? Can I talk to you?" Pidge hovered in the kitchen doorway hesitantly, facing Shiro and Keith who both looked up at her arrival.

"Pidge? Yeah," Shiro replied with a welcome smile. "Come sit."

She fidgeted with her sweatshirt drawstrings as she made her way towards them and sat down at a chair.

They both looked at her expectantly.

"Pidge?" Keith prompted after she didn't say anything for a long time.

She squirmed and Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

"I don't think…." she started slowly. "I don't feel comfortable…." she tried again.

"What?!" Keith cried. "You just moved in, you can't leave!"

Pidge blinked at him for a second and then hid her face in her hands. He really couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying from her shaking shoulders.

Shiro shot his younger brother a look, "If she doesn't feel comfortable here, she doesn't have to stay, Keith." He turned to Pidge, "Hey, Pidge? Are you okay?"

She pulled her hands away after a moment, tears were streaming down her face, but little giggles were coming out of her mouth at the same time. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm so bad at this."

The brothers looked at each other in confusion and slight fear. "It's okay," Keith said awkwardly, shrugging desperately.

"I'm not leaving," Pidge murmured after a second. "I think I'm…. I'm just…. I'm not comfortable being a girl!" she shouted, mostly at herself, but it caused both brothers to jump _very_ high.

"Holy shit, Pidge!" Keith exclaimed after calming his heart down, "You told me that already!"

Shiro and Pidge both blinked at him.

"You asshole!" she announced. "I didn't think you'd realized or something because you never said anything!"

"Well, you didn't say anything to me either!"

They both glared at each other before relaxing at the same time.

"So, you're not leaving?" Keith asked.

"And you're okay with me?" Pidge asked at the same time.

They both grinned and nodded at each other.

"So, Pidge," Shiro interrupted, "what pronouns do you want us to use?"

Pidge wiped her face, nodding. "I'm moderately okay with she/her, but if you could slip in they/them pronouns sometimes, that'd be great."

"Okay. And how do you identify?" Shiro forged on. "I want to make sure we don't get anything wrong."

"I'm calling myself fem neutral? But in general, girl still works."

"That's cool," Keith said, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Anything else?" Shiro inquired.

"Oh, yeah," Pidge muttered, pulling their sweatshirt sleeves down as a nervous habit. "I'm gay."

Keith couldn't help the grin that filled his face. "Hell yeah! Join the club!"

They shared a high-five across the table and Shiro shook his head in amusement. "I'm actually pan."

" _And_ ," Pidge started again, "I'm actually ace."

Keith shook his head. "This was a lot of coming out today."

"Well, you guys were actually the practice for my family." They bit their lip awkwardly, "Do you think I should tell them over Facetime or wait to tell them in person?"

"Well," Shiro thought slowly. "If you're comfortable not being out yet, just wait. However, if you think they'll have a positive response, go for it. If everything you want to discuss is okay to do not in-person, then go for it."

Pidge nodded. "Well, my brother's bi, so, I think it'll be okay. I think I'll tell my brother tonight and my parents tomorrow." She grinned, "I'll go do it right now!" They hugged Shiro quickly—he laughed in surprise—before running off.

Keith grumbled in the seat beside him, but turned to his tablet to continue sketching what he'd been working on before Pidge had come in.

"What?" Shiro asked.

Keith shrugged, "Nothing. Why?"

The thing you have to know about Keith is that he's a really shitty liar.

"Kiddo—" he corrected himself after Keith shot him a look. " _Keith_ , what's up?"

"Nothing, I already said that," he grumbled.

"I thought we got over your angsty pre-teen thing," Shiro teased, disheartened when Keith didn't even look up. "Bud, come on."

"Kindly, fuck off."

He sighed. "Is this about Pidge?"

His silence was enough of an answer.

"What'd Pidge do?"

" _She didn't do anything_ ," Keith grounded out in annoyance. "Nothing's wrong, it's stupid."

"Your stupid usually turns to everyone else's valid."

Keith grinded his teeth together with a growling noise. "I'm _fine_."

"Okay."

Stupid Shiro knew just how to get him to talk. If you leave Keith alone with his thoughts too long, he'll eventually share them one way or another.

"You're adopting another sibling," he muttered after a few minutes, busying himself with his art project.

"Adopting—? Keith. Pidge is our close friend and roommate. Agreed?"

He nodded after a moment, his face so low that his hair hit the screen.

"You are my brother. Agreed?"

Another nod.

"We love each other. Agreed?"

Nod.

"I adopted you because I love you. Agreed?"

A pause.

" _Agreed_?"

A slow nod.

"Keith."

Keith shrugged, running a hand through his hair shakily. "You felt guilty." He braced himself for the explosion that was inevitable.

"Keith Kogane! I love you with all of my existence, okay? I adopted you because we're brothers. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't? It wasn't guilt that drove me to keep care of you. It was love."

Keith raised his head slowly, keeping the tears at bay. "That was really fucking cheesy."

"Language," Shiro chided, but he was laughing through the reprimand. "Come here."

 

So, a nice coming out day for everyone.

***

_Library Date - September_

Lance _really_ needed to get on his Henry James essay for his Introduction to Fiction class. He had meant to do it before seeing Violetta, but it was her _birthday_ , she was turning _four_ , for goodness sake. He had to go find her the perfect birthday gift.

Henry James was an old writer who helped evolve writing. He was also the reason Lance found himself running out of the room as soon as Voltron ended, intent on running over to the Arus Library to finish writing about the dude.

"Lance!"

He stopped at the front of the stairs, ready to jump down them in one bound. It was Keith. Slowly, he turned. "Yeah?"

"Did you finish that essay on Henry James?"

Ah, yes. Lance's Introduction to Fiction class. Also commonly known as the class he got to ogle Keith. It wasn't catchy, but you get the point.

"No," he replied slowly. Lance bit his lip to keep from grinning. "Why?"

"Oh," Keith nodded, running a hand through his beautiful, thick hair. Lance wondered what it would feel like. It seemed soft, but Keith may not know how to take care of his hair if he couldn't take care of his facial hygiene. Somehow, though, his face was still absolutely gorge—

"So, yeah. Just wondering," Keith finished, shifting his feet awkwardly.

"Um…" Lance really should've paid attention. Whatever, he could wing this. He was _great_ at improv. "I was actually planning on heading to the library if you want to come work on it."

"Which one?"

"I was planning on Arus," he replied. Mostly because it was in walking distance _and_ Lance was not yet comfortable with the subway yet. What if he got on the wrong one?!

There were a _lot_ of libraries at their college, but Lance had only worked there. Don't fix it if it ain't broke, right?

"Nah, Altea is even cooler," Keith declared. "If you want to go?"

"Heck yeah, I do!" Lance coughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "I mean, help and stuff is cool."

Keith nodded slowly and they both started down the steps. "Do you not cuss?"

"Ha, no. My older brother told me that if I cuss more than ten times in my entire life, I'll be haunted by spiders for the rest of it. I was ten and he was a jerk. It's become automatic and I'm never the one in trouble when one of the littles say a bad word."

He tapped against the railing as they trotted down the steps. Was that weird? It sounded pretty pathetic, now that he thought about it. _I don't cuss because spiders will haunt me for the rest of my life, ah!_ Stupid.

His eyes snapped over when he heard a huff of laughter. Wow, that was cute. Keith shook his head, his whole body bouncing from going down the stairs as a grin forced its way on his face.

"That's hilarious," Keith said, his lips quirked up in amusement.

Lance let out a fake gasp and swatted the guy's arm. "I had nightmares! Quito is evil. You don't _understand_."

"Oh, yeah? Well, Shiro told me that when I was nine, that if I wanted to go to the bathroom, I had to give the ' bathroom monster' candy. I guess he thought I was settled into the house enough to use his older brother tricks on me." Keith shook his head, "Our parents found out a month later and he got grounded. I got a giant bag of candy. He was sixteen and had just gotten a car."

Keith smirked, "I think, overall, I won and Shiro lost."

Lance giggled, opening the door for Keith and following after him, not hesitating to check the dude out when his back was turned.

Nice, tight ass.

"Wait, settled into the house?" he inquired after shaking himself out of it.

Keith winced as if he hadn't meant to say that. "Yeah, I'm adopted. They adopted me when I was seven, but my dad was my teacher and fostered me."

"Were you a terrible kid? You know, flash your adorable smile and then ruin everyone? You seem like the type," Lance continued, taking the new information in stride. He had a high school friend who was adopted and hated the pity they got.

High school friend. Huh. It was weird how he was in a completely new section of his life.

"No," Keith replied after a moment, a look of disbelief on his face as they both walked towards the subway. "I was the quiet one that bit if provoked."

He burst into laughter, "I see that even better! Don't mess with Keith or he'll mess _you_ up."

A corner of the boy's mouth quirked up. "What about you? You were definitely the kid who flashed a smile and got out of trouble. Probably raised your hand and answered before the teacher called on you," he teased back.

Lance gasped, shocked at how accurate that was. "No! I was a complete angel. I had eight parents so I hardly ever got away with anything." Just made it oh-so-sweeter when he did.

Keith blinked. "Eight?"

"Six older siblings," he supplied, dramatically tearful. "The twins are eight years older than me," he explained. "Quito is one of them. Quito is evil."

"Quito, the one who told you if you cussed more than ten times, spiders haunt you," Keith sounded out slowly. "That's a big family."

Lance nodded with a laugh. "It's nice, though."

 

Though the day was full of awkward pauses and fights, it was the best time Lance had had in a while. And, Altea was, indeed, cooler than Arus. Thanks, Henry James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> henry james.... yes, i did change the klance class from an mfa seminar to an intro to fiction. it seems better.
> 
> thanks for reading! kudos and comments are _highly_ appreciated.
> 
> i might write some more before the next deadline (jan. 24), but we'll see what happens.
> 
> you will definitely get to tune in in two weeks for either more timeline _or_ sophomore year!
> 
> peace out, good vibessss to alllllll :)


	5. october and november

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> still skipping through.... rolo and nyma, parent's death anniversary, pidge gets her period in an unfortunate situation, and thanksgiving

**Timeline Through Freshman Year**

  
_Lance Gets Fucked Over - October_

"Hey, guys," Lance announced at a study meeting at the Altea library. They were halfway up in the floors, so, not too loud, but not too quiet. Lance never went higher than that, he was a loud studier.

Hunk and Pidge looked up from where they were discussing an assignment they shared in engineering. Pidge tapped their pencil against the paper as they waited for him to continue.

Shiro was leaning over Keith's computer and admiring whatever amazing drawing he was working on currently and they both raised their eyes to the guy who interrupted him.

"So, my friend, Rolo, is coming around here to visit. We should all go to the Garrison."

Shiro let out a groan before dismissing it with a final, "No."

Pidge cackled, "Come on, Shiro! Last time was so fun!"

"Last time," Shiro corrected, "we almost got kicked out."

"Um, Keith _actually_ got kicked out," Hunk jumped in. "You had to go and ask for him to get back in."

Keith shrugged nonchalantly. "The place is stupid anyway."

Lance whined, reaching out to tug his crush's jacket. "Keith! All you have to do is say yes and it's three against one."

Shiro shook his head, but could see he was outnumbered either way. "Fine. But keep your drinking to a minimum."

"Yes, Dad," they all chorused, except Keith who just rolled his eyes and went back to his tablet.

The guy had been pretty testy lately. They'd been getting in fights more often that were _not_ playful. Everyone had been trying to keep a wide berth around him.

Lance nudged him after a moment, elbowing him in the ribs gently.

Keith shot him a look, but leaned his head over so Lance could whisper in his ear.

Lance, who'd grown used to being around Keith, was very satisfied with how he willed his face not to redden and ignored his heart skip a beat.

It was a work in progress.

"Hey, did you finish the essay?" he whisper-asked.

  
Keith wrinkled his nose. "I'm so tired of writing essays."

Lance let out a bark laughter right in his ear, surprised when Keith didn't jump away in shock. "Welcome to college. Anyhow, I'll take that as a no."

Keith shook his head. "No, but I need to finish this project for my class first. I have more late assignments in that class than ours."

Snorting, Lance nodded in agreement, pulling back. "I should probably finish this essay in one of my classes too." He was a little disappointed that they weren't working together in that moment, but the hottest guy in the world was his friend and that was a pretty lucky thing in the first place.

Pidge looked up to waggle her teasing eyebrows at him. He stuck his tongue back out in retaliation.

They'd all (sans Keith, of course, the boy was dreadfully oblivious) figured out his crush on the mullethead. And _everyone_ , including Allura and Coran, had been subject to Lance's ridiculous pining discussions about how cute he was. There was even a group chat dedicated to that.

The seven had completely bonded by October. They were definitely the ones, the mythical college best friends that you'll have all through your life.

  
"Rolo!" Lance called, happily fist-bumping the tall man in the airport. They'd dated once, but that was a _long_ story. Well, basically, Lance had been in love with Rolo, asked him out, found out that he was a piece of shit, and broken it off. Not so long, now that Lance thought about it.

Why was he hanging out with him now? Well, that was an even longer story. Rolo had a beautiful friend named Nyma and had convinced Lance to help him out with that bribe. She went to Space, actually, but he couldn't just walk up to her and ask her out.

Come on, just because he was in love with Keith didn't mean that he had to stop getting laid.

"Lance," Rolo replied, a small smirk on his face. "What's up? I haven't seen you in a while."

He shrugged, copying the man by slouching with his hands in his pocket. "Eh, same old, same old," he replied, leading him to the subway. "You might wanna load a card up so you can get around," Lance told Rolo after they reached the busy station.

"Oh, okay," Rolo responded. "But, wait, can't I just borrow yours?"

Lance willed himself to say no, but then he sighed. "Sure, yeah. I'll go first and then just hand you the card."

 _Money_... Lance thought helplessly.

He really hated high school.

  
Lance looked around the bar before finally locating his friends. "There they are!" They weaved through the tables before Lance dramatically flopped down on the chair next to Shiro.

"Guys, this is Rolo."

They all responded with friendly hellos and Lance immediately turned his attention to Keith as he so often did after Shiro swooped the guy into a conversation. He was wearing his leather jacket that _wasn't_ a poor sense of cropped fashion. It was black and looked worn. It never failed to make him look sexy—

"Oh, this is Nyma," Rolo announced and Lance's eyes widened.

This girl was drop dead gorgeous. Holy Great Goddess Shakira.

She smiled at everyone around them, her eyes lingering on Keith and Lance didn't know which way he was more jealous because. Her checking Keith out instead of him or her checking Keith out when he was his.

Whatever. Either way, he planned to get laid tonight. "Well, hello. Do you have a pencil? 'Cause I want to erase your past and write our future."

Pidge let out a long groan and Hunk winced with secondhand embarrassment, but to everyone's astonishment, she giggled.

"Aw, you're adorable," Nyma cooed and he barely managed to rein his blush in as she sat in Rolo's previously occupied seat so she could continue talking to him. He barely recognized Rolo turning to Keith and starting to talk to him instead.

_He was definitely getting laid._

  
"Hunk's staying at Shiro's tonight," he told Nyma, his words slightly slurred from a few too many drinks. "So, let's just hop on the subway and whooshhhh," he slid his arm through the air, "head to my dorm." S.P.A.C.E. was an open campus and Lance and Hunk's dorm happened to be on the _other side_ of the Galaxy Garrison bar. The whole city was obsessed with space, it was amazing.

"Oh shit!" Nyma exclaimed, searching through her purse. "I think I left my card in my other bag."

"No," he paused as he almost fell from tripping on the sidewalk, he held up a finger dazedly, "problem! You can use mine."

"Aw, thanks!" She took the card from him and slipped it through the swipe machine. The bars clicked ominously after she walked through them.

Lance held his hand through the bar, "Okayyy. My turn."

She sent him a pitying smile. "Actually, I need this. Just a souvenir, you know."

He blinked. "What?"

"For how many boys I can get, obviously," she grinned. "It was a bet." She started walking off, leaving Lance drunk and confused, but then Nyma paused, turning back to face him.

"Sorry, Lance. Maybe we will meet again."

Shiro came to pick him up after Lance eventually managed to call him.

It was crazy, he thought the next morning, how a person who doesn't even really matter to you can hurt someone so badly.

***

_Keith Fucked Up - October_

The lead up to the worst day of Keith's life were always dreadful. He always tried to escape the world with the usuals. Sex, drugs, and booze. Thankfully, he had a fake ID like the rest of his friends and when they went to the stupid Garrison bar, he got _a lot_ of alcohol.

By the end of the night, he looked around and realized Lance and that-that one girl was gone. Nyma? Good for him. Hunk looked ready to bounce and Pidge was typing furiously on her computer while she simultaneously gulped down a cup full of something that looked strong. Then Shiro was taking the cup away and she rolled her eyes but decidedly looked hammered already, so, he was a little late.

Keith rested against the wall in the corner of the bar, watching everything before Rolo, Lance's friend, came up to him.

"Hey."

Keith examined him, they had talked at the beginning of the night and he was undeniably hot. Both had definitely been flirting a little.

Keith raised one single eyebrow instead of greeting him back. "So, are we going to fuck or what?"

  
Which is how Keith did not go home and instead to Rolo's hotel room. He didn't go home for a week, actually, and he kept his phone on silent. Shiro was undoubtedly worried, but he knew how Keith got around this time, so he must assume that he was safe. He did, admittedly, slip into the apartment when he knew no one would be there to get his schoolwork. Midterms were coming up, so, he bullshitted emails to his teachers to apologize for not being there, but a relative died and on top of that, he was sick.

They all responded positively with the midterm assignments (he didn't take tests since all of his classes were arts and he needed to finish up projects) and he worked on them in between sex and getting wasted.

Which was how Hunk found Keith coming back from one of his nightly escapades with Rolo, who was an asshole, by the way, but he was good in bed and that was all that really mattered.

Hunk was waiting in the lobby and his whole face lit up when he spotted him. "Keith!"

Keith whispered harshly into Rolo's ear. "Go! _Run_!"

Hunk sighed, he was faster than two drunk men and grabbed Keith's arm. "Keith, come on. You scared us. Can we talk?"

He rolled his eyes, his face pink from drinking, "Can we talk? We just did talk. We're done with talk."

Hunk responded by hugging him, "Shiro told me that your parents died. I'm so sorry."

And that's all it took before Keith was sobbing into Hunk's warm chest. Keith relaxed into the hold immediately, distantly hearing Hunk say something that sounded distinctly like, 'fuck you.'

Eventually, they were moving again and he was being buckled into a car and hands were grabbing his.

He finally knew what friends were.

"Hey, we got your stuff from Rolo's room," Pidge told him when he woke up the next afternoon. At least, he thought it was afternoon. Maybe night. Whatever.

He blinked at her as everything came flooding back. Words swarmed through his brain before his mouth decided on: "Fuck."

Pidge nodded, stepping closer. "Fuck is right. We were scared," they whispered. "At first, we were like, ooh, you're getting laid. But then when you didn't turn up the next day, I was getting worried, but Shiro just sighed and was like, he'll be back."

That sounded like Shiro's initial reaction. And he _was_ back.

"But then, I went to see you at the end of your writing seminar class and you weren't there! Shiro shrugged it off again, but he hid in his room all day…." Pidge trailed off. "Eventually, we thought of Rolo and Lance gave us the address of his hotel and Hunk waited there while we checked nearby bars and shit. Shiro was freaking out," she commented.

"We _all_ were freaking out," Pidge finished, a sad expression on her face that just _did not_ belong there.

Keith reached out a hand and let out a loud 'oof' noise because the girl jumped on him with a tight embrace that had him falling back against his pillows. He ignored the faint pounding of his hangover headache in favor of wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm okay, Pidge," he murmured into her hair. "Everything's okay."

"Fuck, Keith, I love you," Pidge muttered into his chest.

He smiled, "I love you too."

For the record, when he found out what Nyma did to Lance, he beat Rolo up because he was an accomplice. The scum. Good thing he left a day later.

  
***

_Pidge's Period - November_

When Shiro and Keith heard worried 'oh _shit_ 's through the bathroom wall, they'd knocked on the door with urgency.

  
"Pidge?" Shiro called. "Are you okay?"

Another 'oh shit' came through before a nervous laugh came. "I'm good! Great, even. Amazing."

Keith's eyebrows furrowed. "Pidge?"

"I'm _great_! Wouldn't mind if you guys left a clear path to my room though."

Keith and Shiro exchanged glances before Shiro nodded. "Okay...well, we'll be in the kitchen." And they let it go.

Later that day, though, when groaning made its way into Keith's _bedroom_ , he got worried.

"Pidge, are you good?" He knocked against the door before opening it to find Pidge laying in a fatal position on her bed. "Pidge!"

She opened her eyes up to let out a whimper, "Cramps."

"Oh. _Oh_ ," Keith's eyes widened in realization. "Uh…. What do I do?"

"I'm really just bleeding out on my bed right now," Pidge admitted pitifully. "It wasn't supposed to come until next week."

"So, um, tampons?"

Pidge shook her head quickly. "No! Evil. I'm not shoving anything up my vagina."

Keith closed his eyes for a second, trying to contain his embarrassment. "Okay…."

"Pads," she responded and then told him the exact size and brand. "Could you get some Aleve or something? Helps with cramps."

He nodded. "Sure, I'll be back soon. I'll take my motorcycle so I get there really quick, okay?"

She nodded gratefully. "Thanks, I love you."

Keith chuckled, brushing her bangs back. "Love you too."

When he got to the cashier, the woman chuckled at what was in his hands. He'd gotten peanut butter as a spur of the moment thing since people got cravings when they were on their...thing.

"Girlfriend or sister?" she inquired.

Keith blinked, "Hm?"

"Period supplies," she explained. "Girlfriend or sister?"

"Oh." Keith let out a shy smile, "Sister."

***

_Thanksgiving - November_

"What's everyone doing for Thanksgiving?" Lance asked at a movie night. They were all cuddled up around each other even though the movie had ended. Everyone was too lazy to put a new one in.

Hunk sighed. "Staying here. Samoa's far away and we don't even celebrate it. I'll just be heading over there for winter break."

Allura piped up, "Well, I don't celebrate Thanksgiving either. Since, you know, I'm british. I just take advantage of the days I get off."

"By doing more work," Shiro commented drily.

Allura shrugged. "Sad, but true."

"I usually go and volunteer around," Coran piped up. "Buying turkey dinners and whatnot. Helping out at soup kitchens."

"You really are an angel," Lance announced, grinning at his majestic uncle.

Coran hummed, blushing.

"Keith and I will probably hang out around here. Thanksgiving Parade and then cooking."

"Better not be as shit as last year," Keith murmured.

"Language and it wasn't that bad!"

"We had to order pizza."

Shiro sighed, "That is true."

Pidge cackled, "Shiro, you couldn't cook if you were trying to save everyone in this room's life."

Shiro, justifiably, looked hurt. "I totally could!"

"You really couldn't," they all replied and promptly burst into laughter.

"I'm," Pidge announced, after her laughter subsided, "going back home, naturally."

"Me too!" Lance agreed. "Hunk, you should come with me."

Hunk blushed, "I couldn't impose—"

"No, seriously! You'll meet everybody and it'll be great."

Hunk sighed as Lance made puppy-dog eyes at him. "Fine."

Lance clapped his hands together in excitement. "Yay! Okay, so, Pidge is sorted out…. Coran, take the brothers and Allura to volunteer some so they actually socialize over the break."

'The brothers' and Allura all hey'd at that, but it was a true statement and no one could really deny it.

"Of course, my boy!" Coran agreed.

"And, Allura, cook for the brothers and Coran because they're really failures."

Three more hey's at a true statement.

"And, brothers and Allura, get Coran to sit down at some point."

No hey because this was _also_ true.

"M'kay, I think that's it," Lance announced, cuddling into his blanket. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Did he just organize our whole break because we're all terrible at socializing?" Hunk asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, pretty much," Pidge responded, laying down further and causing Lance to wrap an arm around her sleepily.

"You're welcome," he murmured.

 

 **You** named the conversation _turkey day_.

  
 **burnin' love:** Lance's fam is great

 **mullethead ❤️:** so, better than lance

 **lurvely lancey lance:** i

 **lurvely lancey lance:** how rude

 **the hero:** Omg volunteering is fun

 **the gorgeous man:** I'm glad you think so!

 **the gorgeous man:** [ _spam of irrelevant emojis_ ]

 **pidgeon:** Lance, I thought you taught coran how to text

 **lurvely lancey lance:** i did! nice, coran!!

 **the gorgeous man:** Thanx bro!

 **princess:** lance, you failed

 **lurvely lancey lance:** *nailed it

 **lurvely lancey lance:** type slower, lura. typos, you know?

 **mullethead ❤️:** ...that was terrible

 **pidgeon:** …

 **pidgeon:** Lance's failures and Coran's texting aside

 **pidgeon:** Matt just fucking ate a whole pie and I'm disgusted

 **the hero:** Allura practically ate the whole turkey

 **mullethead ❤️:** fascinating and scary

 **burnin' love:** I've really never seen so much food

 **burnin' love:** Or people in a house

 **lurvely lancey lance:** AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

 **lurvely lancey lance:** good thing you won't be here for christmas

 **lurvely lancey lance:** the spouses bring their parents cuz they want all of the fam here

 **lurvely lancey lance:** it's a little scary

 **lurvely lancey lance:** are you...still here?

 **pidgeon:** What

 **the hero:** The

 **mullethead ❤️:** a c t u a l

 **burnin' love:** Fuck

 **princess:** is

 **pidgeon:** Wrong

 **the hero:** With

 **burnin' love:** Your

 **mullethead ❤️:** mental

 **pidgeon:** State

 **princess:** ??

 **the hero:** !!

 **pidgeon:** That was really good guys

 **the hero:** Wasn't sure where Keith was going for a second but then I was like oooooh nice

 **lurvely lancey lance:** i want to be offended

 **lurvely lancey lance:** but that was some nice teamwork and i'm proud

 **the gorgeous man:** What just went down here?

 **mullethead ❤️:** making fun of lance as usual

 **lurvely lancey lance:** i could just as easily make fun of your mullet, but i'm a NICE PERSON

 **pidgeon:** That's what they all say when they have no insults

 **princess:** you all are hilarious

 **lurvely lancey lance:** ok, thanksgiving check

 **lurvely lancey lance:** brothers?

 **mullethead ❤️:** bonded and now i don't have to talk to him for a year

 **the hero:** [ _gasping emoji_ ]

 **lurvely lancey lance:** lol ok. allura?

 **princess:** volunteered yesterday, ate with the brothers, and now i can go home, sleep off my food coma, and then GET BACK TO WORK

 **lurvely lancey lance:** YOU BETTER NOT

 **princess:** FUCKING WATCH ME

 **lurvely lancey lance:** allura's scary...so…

 **lurvely lancey lance:** hunk?

 **burnin' love:** I'm literally with you. I had a great Thanksgiving!

 **lurvely lancey lance:** yay! pidge?

 **pidgeon:** Meeting up with some old friends tomorrow and today was great

 **lurvely lancey lance:** mmkay, and…

 **lurvely lancey lance:** CORAN CORAN THE GORGEOUS MAN?!

 **the gorgeous man:** Quite lovely! Allura, number four, and number one are very entertaining!

 **pidgeon:** FAVORITISM!!

 **burnin' love:** YEAH! YOU USED OUR REGULAR NAMES AND THEN SCREAMED FOR CORAN

 **lurvely lancey lance:** people, people, please

 **lurvely lancey lance:** there is plenty of lance to go around

 **mullethead ❤️:** cancelled 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all, it's 11:57, so i still did it. come at me.
> 
> note: the group chat was written with lance's name for everyone
> 
> tune in next next week for december and january (maybe even february, whoa)!


	6. a whole lot of december

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> um? this is december? but i'm not even done yet? it got long, so, i'm breaking it up. have some lance checking keith out and meeting quito!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11:57 bitches. come at me. this got really long, so, i just stopped. there will be more december lmao. so much....
> 
> reminder of all lance's siblings that are mentioned:
> 
> zelia is jazzy joy's mom. her dad has partial custody. and the dad's black so jazzy's biracial.
> 
> neo's kids are xavier, ez, and calypso. he's married to jenny who may or may not ever be mentioned. jenny's some kinda latina i think.
> 
> mari and elle adopted scar and dawson. they're cuban tho.
> 
> anddddd charo and violetta are 3/4 cuban and 1/4 white cuz heather's parents are white and cuban.
> 
> enjoy!!

**Timeline through Freshman Year**

  
_Destressing - December_

Fucking finals. They, as in the 'paladins'—a name they'd chosen to keep once Coran had dubbed them that in their first Voltron meeting, were all cramped in the Brothers' house as they studied because all of the libraries were packed and annoying.

They'd been meeting like that for a straight week.

If you listened closely, you could hear the loud bass from Lance's headphones as he bopped his head to whatever song he was absolutely _jamming_ out to while he filled in a practice quiz he'd made for himself. He was sitting on the living room floor, a binder the only flat surface he had.

You could see the furrow of Keith's eyebrows as he furiously typed out responses to prompts he got at random, preparing for a writing workshop final. He had pulled the coffee table in the living room towards the couch so he could rest his computer there.

Hunk sat against a part of the couch that wasn't protected by the table, his toes poking Lance's thigh as he poured over flashcards.

Shiro, next to him, was periodically rewarding him with new cookies—that sat on the coffee table—that Hunk had brought for everyone. The cookie-giver was on his computer playing a Quizlet game he'd made for himself and it was very entertaining for everyone in the room to hear his little grunts in exasperation when he wasn't fast enough to 'kill the stupid meteor!'

Pidge was hysterical whenever the guy let out a little groan from her place where she was laying on her stomach across from Lance, pausing from typing on her computer to roll around for a second.

At around six, they'd all help out with dinner (which was basically Hunk slapping everyone's hand away from whatever meal they were unintentionally going to poison and Lance trying to get Keith at the same station as him) and Shiro would force them to actually move around and stop thinking about finals.

By eight, they'd have settled back into their routine, maybe switching positions and locations for whatever they were working on. At one point, Lance would wander into Pidge's room and you'd hear his singing drifting through the wood. And Keith would pull out his sketchbook/canvas/tablet for whatever art piece he was preparing.

At eleven, Shiro would force everyone to sleep. Driving Lance and Hunk home because he didn't want them outside at night and then making sure that everyone would actually _close their fucking eyes and sleep_ after they went into their respective rooms and dorm.

They'd wake up around six-thirty and start all over again.

It was incredibly tiring.

  
Lance let out a loud groan two days before everyone's first _test_ exam day (Keith had already turned in a couple of his art pieces and Lance had sung in his vocal exam). "Okay, I can't take this anymore! We're all getting out of this apartment, we're going to do some daytime _drinking_ ," he wiggled his eyebrows for effect, pretending as if he didn't hear Shiro's 'no' as he continued.

"We're going to get just drunk enough that we're only a tad hungover tomorrow and then we're going to study our butts off and ace all of our exams."

Keith stretched from his place on the floor, "I finished all of my final pieces anyway."

Lance blinked as he fought to keep his eyes on Keith's face and not where his shirt was riding up. He coughed, "Yes! Hunk? I'm ignoring Shiro's disapproving look…. Pidge?"

"Actually," Shiro started, surprising everyone, "I say we do it. Good idea, Lance."

Lance beamed at the praise. "Really?"

Pidge snorted, "This day is going down in history."

"I might laugh-cry since this is so hystorical," Hunk said, laughing to himself at his pun of history and hysterical as he sat his computer down.

Everyone else, however, groaned in unison.

"What?!" Hunk protested. "That was good!"

  
Lance and Hunk went back to change into something more party worthy from their sweats and they met up with the others at the Garrison.

Lance pulled out his fake ID as he headed off to the bar after sending a two-fingered greeting towards his friends' table. He noticed that Keith wasn't there, but didn't really think—

"Holy _fuck_ ," he gasped because _there_ Keith was. In his ridiculously tight black skinny jeans and a red beanie with his back turned towards Lance which gave him a pretty great view.

Until Keith whirled around in surprise. "Lance? Did you just _cuss_?"

Oh shit. Oh _shit_! He keeps swearing! Well, not out loud, but still.

Lance let out a nervous giggle, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. His face was undeniably bright red and he helplessly shrugged. "No reason."

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to get cursed by spiders?"

Lance rolled his eyes, falling into an act as he tried to calm his heart rate and his wandering eyes. "I still have three left."

"You've only cussed seven times?" he asked back in disbelief.

"Yup," was the reply he got with a popping of the 'p.' "Now, I'm going to go get some booze. So…." Lance sidestepped Keith and approached the bar, but he didn't get far before he heard:

"Wait 'til I tell the others."

Great. None of them were ever going to let this go.

  
"Why'd you cuss, though?" Pidge inquired, her eyebrows quirking up in curiosity as she eyed Lance from his spot across from her.

Lance merely shot her a 'I-don't-wanna-talk-about-it' look and she looked to Keith instead.

He shrugged, sipping his drink lazily. "I don't know. My back was to him."

There was a pause where everyone seemed to take in Keith's outfit (except Lance, who knew that he'd been discovered and became very interested in his drink) and then the table exploded with yells, earning many looks from the few people around them (since it was afternoon).

"You—?!" Shiro spluttered.

Pidge was cackling as she yelled, "This is the best thing I've heard in my whole life!"

"Lance," Hunk said with a scandalized gasp.

And then: "What? What is it?!" Keith asked desperately, looking between everyone in confusion.

"Nothing! It. Was. Nothing," he pointedly glared at his so-called friends who were totally going to blow his cover.

Shiro coughed, looking exasperated and embarrassed while he turned to his brother. "I'm just frustrated that we don't know why."

Keith's eyes narrowed at his brother. " _Takashi Shirogane_ —"

"No, I was thinking the same thing!" Pidge jumped in, eyeing Lance as he twitched in his seat.

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck nervously, only speaking after Lance shot him puppy dog eyes. "Yeah, me too."

"Oh," Keith said, still watching Shiro before looking around at all of them and seeming to fall for it. " _Okay_."

Thank goodness.

***

_Winter Break Pt. 1 - December_

"Okay," Pidge huffed. She was the first to go home and Lance was reminded of how young she was and how much she must miss her family. Jazzy Joy, his technical niece, was sixteen too.

Lance sat on her bed as she displayed her suitcase. "Underwear?"

"Yup."

"Bras?"

"Doesn't that count as underwear?"

"No, bras are a kind of underwear as an umbrella term, but, y'know, _panties_ ," he made a face when the word left his mouth, his ears reddening, "those are always underwear."

"Well, yes, I have them," Pidge replied, rolling their eyes in amusement.

"Socks?"

"Yes, goodness, I have clothes at home too."

Lance challenged her with a raised eyebrow. "Winter gear?"

She puffed out an 'oh shit' and scoured her closet while simultaneously giving Lance the bird with no comment as he snickered.

Shiro knocked on the open door when they were finishing up and Pidge clicked the suitcase closed before looking up at him.

"You guys ready?"

"I'm packed," they responded, attempting to hold up the suitcase but it unceremoniously dropped on the floor when they couldn't lift the heavy thing up.

Shiro snorted. "I see Lance helped you pack."

"You've gotta be prepared!" Lance quipped back, bouncing off of the bed while Shiro picked the suitcase up for Pidge instead (effortlessly, might he add, and Lance couldn't help but admire the free eye candy).

They both rolled their eyes at him and he shrugged back. "What? You'll be gone for over a month."

Their winter break was _long_ and would leave tons of time for family, which Lance was really pumped about, despite seeing Violetta and his parents almost every weekend and facetiming Zelia and Jazzy for advice. Mostly Keith advice, but he'd kind of given up on getting with him from, well, the beginning.

Just, Keith was, firstly, way out of his league. And besides that, Lance was most certainly not his type since he hooked up with _Rolo_ who was undeniably better than Lance too. He'd resorted to just silently pining and was grateful that Keith was even his friend.

Anyway, going home! They all dropped Pidge off at the airport—Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Hunk—with a teary goodbye, Lance was one-hundred percent sure Keith's eyes even got wet.

Next up was Hunk, who left a few days after. Lance's brother, Quito a.k.a. the 'evil one,' was coming up the next week from his own home and would pick Lance up on the way there, so, their group was only Allura, Keith, Shiro, Lance, and Coran.

He actually had a lot of fun. He didn't hang out with this particular _order_ of people. He even had his first date with Shiro.

  
"I love Christmas shopping," Lance hummed excitedly, dragging Shiro by the wrist through the crowded mall.

Shiro laughed from behind him, trying to keep himself upright. "Really?" he teased sarcastically, apologizing to a man he accidentally elbowed before he continued. "I couldn't tell."

"I don't have any money, though," Lance announced, ignoring the dig, "so, we're getting the bare necessities and doing the rest at home. Now, for the in-laws, I'll get them quick cards, so, art store!"

Shiro shook his head in amusement as he followed.

  
By the time Lance declared them fit to take a break, Shiro looked ready to collapse. Lance placed all of his bags under their table in the food court and asked him what he wanted sweetly, pretending he hadn't forced the guy everywhere.

Shiro relayed his order in exhaustion and Lance sent him finger guns as he went to go get some Chipotle for the both of them.

"Okay," Lance set Shiro's burrito and drink in front of him. "So, did you get everything for Keith?"

Shiro shook his head through a ginormous bite that Lance raised his eyebrow at before digging into his own meal with the same vigor. "I think I need to go find a few more clothes. Some things he wears are so old."

Lance snorted, "Onto Hot Topic then for your emo brother." His eyes lit up, "Oh! I have an emo brother too. Onto Hot Topic for _our_ emo brothers."

He chuckled around his straw. "Which brother is that?"

"The evil one!" Lance shouted, a bit too loudly, sending an apologetic look to people who looked over.

Shiro covered his face, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter and Lance pouted.

"Shiro! It wasn't that funny! It was embarrassing!"

He was literally _wheezing_.

Lance whined (though, for the record, he was grinning), reaching across the table to punch his arm. "Shut up! Quito works me up."

Shiro slowly pulled his hand away, a grin on his face as he looked down at his burrito. "I can tell. But don't make me look at you or I'll probably laugh again."

Lance rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his own burrito with faux-irritation. He actually felt proud of himself because he hadn't solely made Shiro wheeze before. "Whatever. You know, Quito is kind of a lot like Keith now that I think about it. They're both gay, emo, easy to fight with, and make me mad."

Shiro snorted. He seemed to be all giggles today and Lance couldn't help but grin back. "However, Keith makes you mad as in crazy."

Lance flushed, crossing his arms. "He does not! I was like this before I fell in love with him!"

They made eye contact and burst into laughter.

"Good to know I'm friends with an insane person," Shiro commented after they both calmed down.

Lance snorted. "All of us are insane, including you, don't even talk."

They finished up and were walking towards Hot Topic when Shiro froze. Lance shot him a confused look. "Are you okay?"

"Did you say...you were in love with Keith?"

"Oh!" Lance laughed. "I was exaggerating. Mostly just infatuated. I use the term in love lightly."

"Oh," Shiro breathed. "Good. Because heartbreak wouldn't be worth the embarrassment of telling him." His eyes seemed to widen with another realization, "Did you say...infatuated?"

"Yeah," Lance shrugged as he began walking again. "Why?"

"Oh...no reason. Someone just told me that once. Ironic, really."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Well, okay, then. So, what do you usually do with Keith on Christmas?"

  
Shiro and Keith were seeing Lance off and they hung out in his dorm room as they waited for Quito to arrive. When the text came that he was here, Lance tore down the stairs, commanding the brothers to wait there. Quito may work him up, but he loved seeing him.

"Q! What's up?" He hugged his brother who was roughly the same height as him (Quito was only a centimeter taller and loved teasing Lance about it).

Quito was, however, skinnier than Lance. He was more slender than skinny, if you wanted to get specific. He had deep brown eyes that were outlined in a barely noticeable gray.

His hair was darker than Lance's and way longer. It had a gentle wave that fell past his shoulders, currently thrown into a messy bun that showed off his many ear piercings and his nerdy science tattoos that rested on the side of his neck. A tiny beaker, a DNA strand, and atom showed off how much of a nerd he was.

"Hey, Ale," Quito replied, pulling back after ruffling Lance's hair. "You're fifty-percent through the shitty first year."

Lance squawked, fixing his hair and lightly kicking his brother's shin as he led him up the steps. "I know. I don't even know how I didn't die yet."

Quito adjusted his McClain letterman jacket—last year's Christmas present from their mom who liked to design a family-coordinated getup every year—over his purple tank top. "You've got four and a half years left."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Don't even remind me. How was your drive?"

"Fine, except for some asshole drivers, but what can you do?"

He laughed, "Flip them off and honk your horn for a straight thirty seconds."

He rolled his eyes back. "They deserve it."

" _Sureeee_ ," Lance paused at his door. "Keith's in here, so, be chill, please?"

Quito smirked at his little brother, "You mean your giant gay crush?"

Lance facepalmed, the hit surface turning red in embarrassment. "Yes," he hissed. "So, be chill, okay?"

Q laughed, "Yeah. Whatever."

Lance eyed him for another second before opening the door extravagantly. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

Shiro looked up from where he was resting on Hunk's desk, Keith spread out on Hunk's bed with his shirt a little pulled up, revealing sharp hip bones. _Why was his shirt always up_?!

Lance shook his head in annoyance. It was _rude_ , really.

"Hey," Shiro smiled, holding out a hand for Quito to shake. "You must be Quito, I'm Shiro. It's nice to meet you."

Quito looked a little too gay to function himself and Lance smirked to himself as he watched his brother stiffly shake his hot friend's hand. "Nice to meet you too."

Keith sat up and they seemed to have a little stare off before nodding at each other.

Lance grinned, "Is that how emos greet each other?"

Keith stretched out his leg to kick Lance in the knee with a snort. "No. Shut up."

Quito grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at Lance in amusement who subtly flipped him off as he turned towards his suitcases. The curse only applied to verbal stuff anyway. "Oh! You and Shiro are actually the same age. Isn't that cool?"

He watched Shiro nod in utter obliviousness before getting that smirk on his face that undoubtedly meant he was about to tease someone. "Yeah. And we both have annoying little brothers."

Keith rolled his eyes, "And _we_ both have trash older ones." Then he kinda did a double take at Quito, "Um, well, I don't know you."

"Don't take it back!" Lance protested. "You were right, he is trash."

Quito scoffed. "Okayyy, whatever you say," Lance winced, what dark secret was he going to reveal now? He knew it was coming, "Mr. I'm-So-Proud-of-Myself-Because-I-Binged-All-of-Gilmore-Girls-in-a-Week."

"Come on! I was missing out on pop culture and it was totally worth it!" He swatted Shiro who was snickering. "And I ended up hating Rory, but that's fine. She's _almost_ as trash as you, Quito."

Quito blinked. "Oh, fuck no, you did not just compare me to a rich straight white girl. And had _her_ win."

Lance grinned innocently. "Did I?"

Keith snorted. "Don't get beat up ten minutes after you've seen him."

Lance winked at him playfully. "He couldn't possibly beat me up. Do you see him? He's like a stick."

Shiro stopped for a second. "Um, pot calling the kettle black?"

Lance fell against Shiro's outstretched legs, already given up on his suitcases. "You wound me," he whined, throwing a hand against his forehead.

The older man laughed, placing his hands on Lance's shoulders gently. "I'm sorry that you're wrong."

Lance let out a gasp, ready to pull away when the hands began massaging and he fell back in a boneless motion. "Oh. I forgive you."

"Ale, you're so easy to buy," Quito commented, typing on his phone.

Lance let out a lazy hum and Shiro grinned in victory before changing the subject. "Are your suitcases as heavy as Pidge's?"

Lance opened his eyes a little. "Maybeeee."

"Ugh, why do you pack so much?" Keith inquired, hopping off of Hunk's bed. "I'll take one and Shiro can take the other."

"Yes, because Lance's very skinny noodle arms can't hold them," Quito said dryly.

Keith and Shiro simultaneously snorted and Lance pouted. "Don't come at me like this."

Shiro patted Lance's shoulders to tell him to get up and he reluctantly did so. "Do you have all of your presents?"

"Yes, _Dad_ ," Lance rolled his eyes. "Is this how Pidge felt?"

"Undeniably so," Shiro replied, chuckling and grabbing a suitcase with a little effort. "Holy shit, what'd you put in here?"

"Ha!" Keith screamed, causing them all to jump. "Twenty bucks, pay up." He held out his hand as Shiro reluctantly pulled out his wallet and handed his brother a bill.

Lance sniggered. "Look who's the hypocrite now."

Shiro sighed, starting to say, "Don't tell Pidge."

When Keith was already exclaiming, "I'm gonna tell Pidge!"

Lance laughed harder, throwing his coat on and then his scarf. "Pidge is going to kill you, Shiro. But if you tell Hunk...he'll be so disappointed in you."

Shiro glared at them. "I hate you both."

"You love me!" Lance quipped back. "And, I don't know why, but you have to love Keith since he's your brother or whatever. So, I suppose you love him too."

Keith threw his hands up. "I thought we were attacking Shiro!"

"I decided you didn't get attacked enough," Lance shot back.

"Rude! I've literally helped you with so many essays!"

"Um? I've helped you with essays right back, so...invalid."

Shiro shook his head as he followed them out the door.

Quito followed after him. "Are they always like this?"

Shiro rolled his eyes, "Always."

  
"Merry Christmas!"

Lance opened his eyes groggily before spotting Scarlett, Dawson, Charo, and Violetta all grinning at him in his bed.

"Hey, babes," he chuckled sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Six o'clock," Jazzy Joy commented flatly from her place on the air mattress next to his bed. "They woke me up so I made them wake you up too."

"Jazz, it's Christmas! Let them have fun. You did it to me. Payback."

Jazz rolled over, pulling off her bonnet to reveal her long braids. "Not at six o'clock." But she sat up instead of trying to go back to sleep.

Lance's family did a mix of Noche Buena and Christmas morning. They had the giant Noche Buena celebration, that Lance literally just went to sleep for, so, he's only slept for about three hours. Food, gifts, family, the whole shebang.

But on Christmas morning, they'd open stockings which was basically just candy and little knick knacks that were always fun. They'd gorge themselves all over again with leftovers from Noche Buena and watch a ton of Christmas movies. It was chill and fun.

Not really worth the six o'clock wake up, but he understood their excitement. Which is why he already had extra gifts planned.

"Hey, if you guys can really quietly go wake up Xavier, Ez, and Calypso, and get them up here, I've gotta surprise for you."

Vi was practically laying all over his chest and he felt himself almost succumb to sleep before he jerked up. "Yeah? Go, go, go," he shooed them out of his room as they giggled.

"Why can't you let me sleep?" Jazz whined.

Lance laughed. "It's fine. I'll get them to cuddle with us and fall back asleep after they open them." He stood up with a stretch and yawn, sliding the presents out from under his bed. "Gotta be the best uncle."

Jazzy leaned over. "So, best uncle, huh? Something in there for me?"

Jazzy Joy was his niece, though they acted more like cousins at the least and best friend siblings at the most. Zelia, his oldest sister had her when she was nineteen.

"Who do you think I am?" Lance teased, handing her one of the gifts in the pile. "Nope!" he commanded when she tried to open it. "Wait for the others. I don't play favorites."

"Violetta is obviously your favorite and you're really bad at hiding it," Jazz laughed.

Lance pouted. "Not true. I love you too. And! The rest, obviously, all the same."

Jazzy Joy rolled her eyes, a wide grin that she'd inherited from her mother planted on her face. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

He heard a knock on the door and he whispered a 'come in' because these walls were _thin_ and someone was sleeping in every single room.

Xavier, Neo's oldest son, a fourteen-year-old who was really just like his dad lead the group. His younger by one year sister, Ez or Esperanza who was already becoming a really good rebel. Calypso, the youngest of Neo's children at age ten, rubbed her eyes sleepily.

She was followed by the twins, Scarlett and Dawson, Mari's kids that had been adopted only two years ago when they were four. Scar was _really_ protective of Dawson and it was the cutest thing. Dawson reminded Lance of Linus from Charlie Brown with the way he always had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and was, well, very Linus-like. He was resourceful and an all around clever kid.

Charo was six too, and Violetta's sister that still lived with Eterio and Heather. She was a funny kid, reminded Lance strongly of himself at points. It was unnerving. And then there was Violetta. She was four and beautiful and wow, she might just actually be his favorite niece, whoops….

Violetta brought up the rear and Jazz and Lance both patted their beds for them all to sit. Vi sat in between Lance's legs as he handed her presents to give to everyone else.

"Here you go, Xavier," she'd say proudly. "Here you go, Scar. Here you go, Ez."

Jazzy made a face at him as if to say 'she's obviously the favorite' and he laughed, but couldn't really deny it. "Okay, everyone rip 'em apart!"

He got Xavier a pickup line book to use on the tutor he apparently had a crush on as a gag gift that he also knew would be used dutifully.

Jazzy got a binder full of music she could play on her basses. Double and guitar alike.

Scar got a little nerf gun that she could use and be innocent with because she was at that perfect age.

Dawson got slippers to go with his blanket.

Calypso got a booklist of things she might like to read because that's cheaper than buying books and now she could decide what she wanted.

Charo got a joke book that he found with Xavier's.

Violetta got a finger paint kit since theirs was pretty old and she needed a new one.

Lance grinned at them. "So…? Mmph!"

They all jumped on him in a giant group hug and he laughed after a while. "Okay, okay, let's all cuddle and go to sleep, please."

So, they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, for the record. my clock may say 12:01 right now, but i finished at 11:54 and had to do html shit and stuff.
> 
> i think i'm going to finish december before next next wednesday cuz i'm really feeling what i'm writing. no promises tho.
> 
> [looks back to where i said i'd give you december, january, and maybe even february]
> 
> yeah...don't believe anything i say.
> 
> BY next next wednesday, you'll meet matt, celebrate christmas with the shiroganes without their parents, and meet hunk's moms! allura may make an appearance, idk. and i've been keeping coran away from you, i'm so sorry.
> 
> tune in in two weeks for at least...the rest...of december??
> 
> (yes, i'm aware it's 12:05, bite me)
> 
> (now it's 12:12 because my html fucked up what i was doing)


	7. UPDATE! NOT A REAL CHAPTER CUZ I'M A FAILURE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically, y'all can all yell at me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyy. i'm mentally dead [jazz hands]

hahahahaha sooooooo.

guys, i'm so sorry. i'm going through a rough patch with depression and motivation, so, i couldn't get this chapter out tonight.

uhhhh i'm trying to get through this and i'll probably have it out by sundayyyy.

in the meantime, you can check out [my tumblr](https://written-through-yawns.tumblr.com) and read this little snippet that i'm working on:

"Get in, loser," Matt winked at her from the driver's seat in their family's dingy minivan. "We're going shopping."

Pidge sighed, climbing into the passenger's while rolling her eyes. "You're such an idiot."

Matt clicked his tongue, grinning at them. "I know you're nervous so I won't be offended by what you say."

Pidge bounced their knee anxiously. "I'm not nervous."

"Your knee says otherwise," he told her gently, turning in his seat to face her. He hadn't even taken the car out of park yet. "Come on, Pidge. What's going on in that complex contraption in your head?"

***

that's right, fuckers. we're going binder shopping!!

see ya around!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> love you all!! i'll try and get it posted by this sunday!! (so many double !!)


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